Inheritor of the Outset
by The Tipsy Watchman
Summary: Using the memories Naruto's sensei gives, Kurama crafts a copy. Kurama does this to help Naruto grow stronger, but will it really make a difference? Will the gifts his sensei give really be enough for Naruto end the constant war and bloodshed the Elemental Nations are known for? Follow Naruto as he learns information and abilities not seen since the age of the Sage of Six Paths.
1. Lessons of Life

**Hello to all that wisely choose to read the Author's Notes.**

**My apologies for what I consider a pitiful excuse for a story start in ****_The Sharin(ne)gan_****, which I have taken down now that this is up. I don't know why I thought that is everything about it would interest you all. Perhaps if I had a better summary, maybe a longer chapter one. It might have drew in more attention then, but I will never know, as I have already switched my attention to what I hope will eventually become one of the best Naruto fanfiction stories (Top 10 for reviews) on this site. I give you my word that I will not take this story down, no matter how I feel about it after a week of posting it.**

**Hmm... there might be a bit of Sakura bashing. I don't know, I don't like her at all after she gave Naruto a fake declaration of her love. That's pretty low considering he's wanted her for at least eight years. To give him a declaration that he****_ knew_**** was fake? That's a slap in the face, no matter how you look at it. **

**Oh! I almost forgot. Updating is going to be random due to my chronic laziness. The more reviews I get, the faster I will try to update, but I'll still be updating slow, especially if I write chapters of this size often. Just a heads up.**

**That's about it for the info, now onto the story. I proudly present to you, Chapter 1 of ****_Naruto: Wielder of the Original Dōjutsu_****.**

**Ah, one last thing that I'll be covering thoroughly in the bottom notes: Review. Please. If you like the story, tell me! If you hate the story, tell me that too! Just leave a review on your way out - if you have to time to read this entire long thing, then you have the time to write a few words.**

**Read the bottom Author's Notes!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or even my own ideas on how it could be better. If anyone wants to use the ideas in here, I would prefer it if you told me so that I might read a better version of my story.**

* * *

In a clearing Naruto was told was the Third Training Ground, he was being taught how to mold chakra by his new Sensei. He was so excited! He was finally take a step towards becoming the Hokage through his actions rather than his words. Sensei-san told him that with as much chakra as he already had, Naruto really could become the next Hokage. If he was willing to put in the hours and hours of practice and training, that is.

After watching Naruto successfully mold chakra for the tenth consecutive time, His sensei showed him how to float a rock using his chakra, to help him build control he would need to perform jutsu. "When you can hold the pebble up for an hour without it shaking, you will have mastered this technique. For now though, let's just focus on raising the stone at all," He told him in a warm voice. Naruto's face contorted in concentration, his eyebrows drawn together and his tongue sticking out. Naruto's sensei saw the chakra build in his hand, and slowly trickle upwards to the pebble.

He raised it for about a second a quarter of an inch off his hand, so tiny an amount that Naruto didn't think he succeeded. His mentor had seen it though. He smiled when the little boy pouted. "Try again, but gather more chakra this time. If you want to become a ninja, this is just one of the many things you will need to succeed. Most every gen in can learn a jutsu, and that might count in battle, but the more hours you put into things like this, the more of the jutsu you can perform without wasting chakra. And the more jutsu you can perform, the stronger you'll become, which is one more step for you towards your dream." Naruto smiled, and nodded.

The young blonde took a deep breath, and began to channel his chakra. The rock was raised up two inches before leveling off. It was shaking like it was in a hurricane, but was raised up for three seconds before it fell. His smile grew in to a goofy grin. _'He's a prodigy when he has the right motivation,'_ The stranger thought. _'Not many people of any age, let alone his, that has only just been taught how to mold chakra could have asked for the same results.'_

He cleared his throat. "That was excellent, Naruto. Now do the same thing with your other hand, then your head." He watched the boy do as he instructed, each time seeing the rock go higher. _'If he moves it any higher he won't be able to steady the thing...' _The man squatted down, so he could look Naruto in the eye. "I want you to raise the stone as high as your eyes, and keep it there as long as you can. Can you do that for me?" Naruto nodded rapidly.

The man watched Naruto pick another rock off the ground, then saw the pebble rise up to the point he had instructed. Five seconds passed. Then another, then another. The stone began to shake more after twenty seconds, but steadied slightly at thirty, falling only after forty had elapsed. He wanted to cry. _'Such raw talent... If only they would have taught him without bias.' _He sighed._ 'They never will though... Even some of the shinobi population has come to see him as the beast...' _Naruto had mistaken the sigh that was loosed as disappointment, and had immediately began apologizing and saying that he would try harder.

"Whoa there, you haven't done anything wrong! I'm just upset at the way you're treated by others. You wouldn't have gotten anywhere in four years had I not..." The blonde was looking at him with big blue eyes, in wonder. _'If anyone else has to endure the things this boy had, I'll make sure he helps them. To not be used to so much as an act of dismissal... The next person that treats the boy poorly is going to be strung up for all to see. That's the least I can do for him.' _He laid his hand on the boys shoulder and smiled. "How about after this I treat you to some dinner? Anywhere you want to go."

Naruto didn't hesitate a moment. "Can we go to Ichiraku Ramen?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Ichiraku Ramen? You can go anywhere you want." When Naruto nodded, the man asked, "You understand that I'll pay for it?" The blonde nodded again.

He chuckled. "As long as you're sure."

* * *

"Another bowl, Naruto-kun?" The boy's had nodded rapidly. Ayame smiled. "How about you?" The man looked at her, nodded, then turned back to Naruto in confusion .

Somehow Naruto had three times as many bowls stacked up. _'He must be close to being full... He's had six bowls already!' _As it turned out, it took Naruto five more bowls to fill him.

"Naruto, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"What is it, Sensei-san?"

"I can only be your sensei for a few more days before I have to go." Naruto looked upset, but the man raised his hands. "None of that, please. Don't worry. Before I go I'll find a way to keep your training progress. I'll leave you a note tomorrow morning on where to meet. It'll probably be the same spot though." The man stood. He pushed the flap out of his way, before stopping. He shook his head. "Sleep well, Naruto." Naruto saw him turn away, then locked eyes with him once more.

* * *

Naruto woke up early, and found a note on his floor that told him to open his door. When he did, he saw his Sensei outside, hair fiery as usual. "May I come in?" Naruto nodded, glad he was generally a tidy person. His apartment didn't look like someone had emptied the garbage of the entire village on his floor. His sensei looked around, the last place he found himself looking was at his food supplies. He sweat dropped.

_'Instant ramen? That's it?' _He to turned to look at Naruto. "Is this all you have?" Naruto nodded. The man sighed. "We probably aren't training today. I'm going to take you into town and teach you how to cook. I'll write down everything for you, in case you can't take everything in. Okay?" Naruto bobbed his head. "I'm also going to buy you a refrigerator and a stove." Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Thank you sensei!" Naruto ran over and hugged his leg. He chuckled.

After a day of teaching Naruto how to cook foods of all kinds, teaching him what each seasoning looked like and tasted like, how he could always add seasoning but it was hard to neutralize too much, teaching Naruto how to eat a balanced variety of food everyday, not just ramen. After that, he spent an hour teaching Naruto more chakra control. He was interrupted by a masked ANBU with a red triangle pointing downward at the top, and two red wavy lines running underneath the eyes to the side of his mask.

"You are to come with me," he said while pointing at Naruto's sensei.

His sensei shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "I know what he wants. So no. I'm not going to come with you." He raised his hands in a seal. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**." A puff of smoke erupted, and after it cleared, Naruto didn't know what to say. Three of his sensei appeared, four of him total. One moved to guard Naruto. He reached out and touched the one that had moved towards him once he figured out his intentions.

"I thought the **Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)** only made it _look_ like you made copies of yourself?" The little boy said.

His sensei smiled. "Ah, but as you must of heard me say, this is the _Kage_ Bunshin no Jutsu. It's a completely different technique. We Kage Bunshin can think for ourselves, making quite a deadly combination of jutsu when had attack." Naruto nodded in understanding, and opened his mouth in awe. His sensei must be really powerful to know such a technique.

His sensei took out a kunai in one hand, and three shuriken in the other, as did the other copies of himself, excluding Naruto's guard. They threw the shuriken one by one, forcing the ANBU to move. Each time he did, each copy of his sensei lunged towards his possible destination. Each time he failed to capture him._ 'He's gotten faster,'_ he thought. He saw him go through a few hand seals and jumped backwards, getting a safe distance.

"**Doton: Retsudo Tenshō (Tearing Earth Turning Palm)**," the ANBU mumbled. The ground in front of the Kage Bunshin began to spiral down, taking them with it. Or so the ANBU had intended. What he had certainly not expected was for the Kage Bunshin to jumped towards him and explode.

Naruto looked up at his sensei, the question obvious. "It's called the **Kage Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Explosion Technique)**. It does... Well, you just saw what it does. Kage Bunshin can manually detonate themselves with the correct seals, and do quite a bit of damage." Naruto surveyed the ground and the surrounding area, seeing that it had scorched the rocks that were nearby, and had tipped some of the trees over. The ANBU was nowhere to be found.

His sensei dispelled his remaining Kage Bunshin, and squatted down to look Naruto in the eyes. "You remember how I said I would have to go soon?" Naruto nodded, tears threatening to fall. "I'm sorry Naruto. I don't want to, but if I stay, someone will eventually get something out of me that I don't want them to have." He put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze of support.

"How will I learn how to be a true shinobi on my own?" His sensei smiled.

"I'll tell you what I believe a true shinobi is right now, if you really want me to." Naruto nodded vigorously. "A true shinobi is someone who protects those who cannot protect themselves, one who stands with those they love, no matter the cost." They locked eyes once more, and then he vanished.

* * *

Later that night, Itachi Uchiha slipped away from the Uchiha Compound and went to the Forest of Death to think. Earlier in the day, he had helped Shisui kill himself, and was still shaken up about it; something that rarely occurred.

Nobody would bother him here, on the tree tops of such a 'dangerous' place. So he thought before a man with a mask literally appeared into the space that was occupying a tree directly in front of him. Itachi assumed it was a man, but could not be sure. The mask had only one eye hole for his right eye, and was white with a flame pattern. The man was also wearing a black cloak that covered all but his feet, with two long sleeves that were currently at his sides and showing no traces of his arms.

"Hello!" The man shouted, elongating the -o like a child would. Itachi raised an eyebrow, preparing himself mentally should the need to fight arise. "I heard from a little birdie that you have to kill your clan," the man said again. Itachi could have sworn he was smiling, but couldn't see underneath his mask to check.

Itachi remained motionless, both unsure of how he obtained such classified information and how he should deal with this man. He was also troubled with how he had just _appeared_, making him wonder if he would even be able to defeat such a person. Itachi nodded in answer to the statement. It would be pointless to lie, and not confirming could be potentially dangerous.

The two remained staring at each other until the masked man moved. He shot his hand behind his back, and Itachi immediately pulled out a kunai. He felt for his footing before he moved back into a stance, never taking his eyes off of the masked man. All of this happened in the span of less than a second.

He fell a few feet down the tree before he could catch himself when he saw the man pull a sandwich from his pants and move his mask to the side to eat it. "So," the masked man said in between mouthfuls, "do you need any help?"

Itachi chose his words carefully. "I am unsure whether or not you are able to. Though they have grown arrogant, most from the Uchiha clan are strong. Should the need to fight arise, you may not fare very well."

The man's head bobbed up and down. "I see..." He popped the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and stood up. "It's a good thing I'm an Uchiha too!" He slid his mask back into place, again able to see Itachi's incredulous look.

"You... You're an Uchiha?" Someone so easy going could not possibly be from his clan.

"Yup!" He said cheerfully flashing his sharingan. He walked over the branches to Itachi, holding out his hand. "Madara Uchiha, at your service." When Itachi did not move, he reached over and grabbed his hand, shaking it firmly. "Such poor manners for one so uptight." Itachi's left eye began to twitch, and the vein on his right temple became noticeably more prominent. "Touchy, touchy," Madara said while waggling his finger.

"Wait... _Madara_ Uchiha? _The_ Madara Uchiha?" Madara nodded rapidly, giving him two thumbs up. Itachi's look of surprise quickly turned into a frown, his eyes narrowing. "Impossible. You would have to be over one hundred years old then."

"I have learned many things over that time," Madara said in a suddenly serious tone. "You would benefit from this offer, and I would be given the opportunity to exact revenge on the offspring of those that exiled me." He sat down on the branches, his forearms resting on his knees. "If you believe you can defeat the whole of the Uchiha clan without my help, be my guest. If just one puts up a fight, things will get out of hand very quickly."

Itachi shook his head slowly. "This is my burden to bear, and it is not about revenge. It is about quelling the imminent coup d'état, by any means necessary. Because they will not listen to reason, I must stop them through force." Itachi turned around and prepared to jump away. "I believe it time for you to take your leave," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

_'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,' _Itachi thought several hours later, splitting into five. It was the dead of night, and not a not a single thing stirred except the wind for the past fifteen minutes. He saw not even the slightest of movements, and found his mouth drawn in a grimace, mirrored by all of his Kage Bunshin. With a hand signal, the five flashed to each of the corners of the pentagonal Uchiha Compound and began their slaughter of both the guilty and the innocent.

The real Itachi had decided to take the section that his parents and younger brother resided. He had also chosen to deal with them first, lest he find himself without the heart to do so later.

Killing his father would not be a very difficult for him, but killing his mother... He wrestled within his mind over whether he should spare her. Itachi knew he couldn't bring himself to kill Sasuke, but if he left Sasuke all alone, how would he turn out? Would he follow the path paved with blood that was revenge? Or would someone pull him out of the despair he would no doubt be in? Itachi decided that he could not risk it, and that he would leave Mikoto alive because she wasn't arrogant unlike the rest of the Uchiha Clan; but his decision did not matter.

His father Fugaku was awake.

When Itachi looked at his father, a cold look of anger, disappointment, and betrayal stared back at him. It made him feel, if only a small pang, of guilt. He was in the process of killing his closest relatives... _'No,' _Itachi thought, mentally clearing his head. _'This is what must happen. The village is more important than the Uchiha Clan.' _His feelings dealt with, he returned the look his father gave him with nothing more than a cold stare. After a few minutes, Fugaku motioned with his head for them to move away from their home, Itachi replying with a single nod.

They moved to a patch of grass between two large housing developments, an open field. Itachi nodded, knowing that should their words turn to fists the Compound would receive limited damage.

Fugaku spoke first, simply saying, "So you've thrown your lot in with them." Upon receiving a second curt nod, he continued. "For what purpose?"

Itachi chose his words carefully before responding, sorting through the vast amount of information he had received cover the past two days. "Because," he said with a tone similar to Fugaku's, "they are in the right. It is the Uchiha Clan that is in the wrong. I understand you find that hard to comprehend, but I believe it to be true. The Uchiha Clan does not have more power because we would abuse it. A coup d'état is not the answer you should have come to." He paused, and purposely cut Fugaku off when he opened his mouth. "We have spoken of this once before, so there is no need to tell me your stance when I have already heard it."

Itachi's father closed his mouth, simmered quietly for a few seconds, and replied with, "I gave you permission to join the ANBU to spy on Konoha, not the other way around. Have you a reason for such actions?" Itachi didn't hesitate to bob his head. "What is it, then? What is more important to you than your entire clan?"

"Sasuke." Fugaku's eyebrows raised for such a short time that Itachi almost thought that he had imagined it. Almost.

"I see," he said. And that was all that he said before he settled into a stance Itachi was very familiar with, and knew exactly how to counter. He had never let his father know, and had countered it in a less than effective way before, but this time...

Fugaku appeared behind him, and Itachi hit him, without turning around, with a kick that sent him a few feet backwards. It was the way he had always begun their fights, but Itachi had always just taken a few steps forward and turned. He turned to face his father, who was holding his side and grimacing.

ANBU training, and by extension ANBU, was not for everyone for two reasons. The first, you could die on any mission you were sent out on. There were no _easy_ missions. Second, and less known, was that the physical training they went through was too rigorous for most to consider, much less complete.

Fugaku came at him more cautiously this time, but it mattered little. Itachi had everything down to a system. From the way he was coming at him he could be intending to do three things. He was either going to jump in the air and try to drop kick him; swing his leg around in a feint and try to strike a nerve near his neck; or swing his leg around in a true assault, except after missing he would plant it and come around with the other leg.

The first option was the riskiest, but against any other opponent would be the most effective. Against Itachi it would be best to try the second option, but if the feint was expected it would be disastrous. He could grab his leg and throw him into the air, spinning him in the process and then being able to jump up and strike at him multiple times in quick succession with little chance of either fending off the assault or blocking. And for the third option, it would also be easily countered by stepping into the kick and block the hit with one hand while striking at Fugaku with the other.

Fugaku planted his left leg, and swung at him with a very slightly slower than normal kick, intending a feint and to strike at any nerve he could reach. He found himself in the air spinning, and knew he was in trouble. He weaved a few hand seals as fast as he could, thinking,_ '**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Grand Fireball Technique)**.' _All around Fugaku flames seemed to erupt, but that was only because he was spinning in a ball. A constant stream of flames was flowing from Fugaku's mouth, forcing Itachi to stand his ground.

He still hadn't moved.

He thought for about half a second, then threw several kunai and shuriken. Most of them landed. Fugaku couldn't see them through the flames he had erected around himself. Most struck his back, but when an ANBU hits you with a kunai, it goes in deep. He landed on his knees and saw Itachi walking towards him calmly, with a katana in his right hand. "You are... well learned," Fugaku sputtered before throwing up blood. "I'm proud." Itachi nodded. His father usually paid him compliments of such kind.

He swung the blade, ending his suffering. At the same time, his Kage Bunshin dispersed. One had triggered a trap and had set a house aflame. Had his fight with his father not roused any of the Uchiha, that trap certainly would have. The other three Kage Bunshin dispelled themselves, and he left without a sound.

After sorting through the information his Kage Bunshin had collected, he nodded. _'The damage has been done. They are arrogant, but not stupid enough to try a coup d'état missing so many shinobi. Perhaps... It is better this way. Konohagakure will not lose its most powerful clan, and they will hopefully become more humble.'_

* * *

Five hours later, Naruto found a note on his table, telling him to keep practicing chakra control, and that he would become the greatest Kage there has ever been. There was also a scroll of jutsu and instructions, and a scroll full of the recipes his sensei taught him.

Naruto looked through the recipes, his eyesight being unusually clear for so early in the morning. He shrugged. _'It happens every once a week. Maybe when something big happens yesterday?' _He settled upon tamagoyaki, broiled fish, steamed rice, and miso soup. His favorite was the soup, and he immediately thought to find a ramen recipe when he got home from the Academy. He was still on time, even when it took him an hour to read the recipe and make it. The actual cooking had taken about fifteen minutes, and everything was delicious.

When he got there, eight people were in the room that he knew. One was a quiet boy named Shino Aburame, who as sitting quietly at the second level of three, looking out the window. If he remembered correctly, the boy was very erudite about bugs. When Naruto looked closer, he saw that there were bugs that were crawling over the window in formations. That made Naruto shiver.

Oddly enough, sitting next to Shino was a quiet girl named Hinata Hyuuga. She had pale, bordering on white eyes, tinted purple. She also had bluish hair, and was pushing her fingers together. She appeared to be attempting to talk to the bug user, but to no avail. She was an odd one, but from the few times he talked with her, knew she was a nice girl.

Ino Yamanaka, sometimes a blonde banshee, other times a sweet little girl, sat near the front row next to a redheaded girl. She had her blonde hair tied back in a high ponytail, with bangs covering a part of her face on the right side. She was currently glaring at the pink-haired Sakura Haruno, who sat next to the seat closest to the board. The seat closet to the board was occupied by the crush of nearly every single girl from eight to twelve years old. Sakura looked back up to Ino and stuck her tongue out, making a silly face.

Next he saw Kiba Inuzuka. Naruto grinned and the brown-haired boy returned it twofold. Kiba was one of the few people that played with Naruto, and Naruto was one of the few people that had the endurance to keep up with Kiba. As such, the two had hit it off. Though they also played games with Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi, those other boys couldn't stand all the sprinting around Kiba and Naruto did in the form of tag. It turned out that they were also a pretty even match the couple of times that they had sparred, after Kiba's sister Hana had explained the concept to Naruto.

Speaking of Shikamaru and Chōji, the two were sitting right in front of Kiba. Shikamaru was sleeping, with his hair looking like the top of a pineapple. He had once seen his father, and knew why his hair was so strange. Chōji on the other hand was munching on chips, talking to Kiba. his was wearing a bandanna, allowing his hair to poke up on either side of his head. Chōji was often spoken of by the teachers as being too soft, but Naruto knew otherwise. With the right push, or insult about his weight, he would become a ferocious beast.

The last he saw was Sasuke Uchiha, sitting in the seat closest to the front board, with his elbows on the table and his head high off the table; his nose resting on his hands. He and Sasuke locked eyes, and he saw... nothing. He stared at Naruto with the coldest look, his eyes void of emotions. It was unnerving... Not even when Sakura walked in, shortly after Naruto, did Sasuke perk up, much to the confusion of the pinkette.

When Naruto asked Kiba if he knew what was wrong, Kiba nodded. He said in a whisper, "I heard my mom this morning talking about it. More than ninety percent of his family was killed last night by his brother Itachi."

Naruto looked back at the Uchiha, this time his face full of sympathy rather than confusion. He never had a family, but had wished almost every day to have one. He couldn't imagine what losing that much of his family would do if he was in Sasuke's shoes... Hundreds killed in a single night? His brother insane and bloodthirsty? Naruto shook his head.

He got up, walked in front of Sasuke, squatted down slightly to be at eye level, and asked, "Are you going to be okay?" He saw the Uchiha's eyes flicker towards him, the heir of his clan shaking his head ever so slowly. Naruto thought for a long moment, thinking of what his sensei would say. Finally, he settled on, "Do you want to talk about it?" Sasuke looked at him once more, and Naruto smiled.

"Why," he mumbled. "Why do you care?"

Naruto was surprised that he would ask that question, but answered just as easily as if he had expected it. "I've never had family, so I can only imagine the pain of losing them. I'm sure its even worse than what I think though."

"Thank you," he said in a quiet tone. "Thank you, but no."

Naruto nodded, and stood back up. "I'll talk with you later if you change your mind." The blonde saw Sasuke nod, so he put his hands behind his head and walked back up to Kiba.

Sakura looked like she was ready to kill Naruto out of jealousy.

* * *

The next day, Naruto saw his mother pick him up from school. When the beautiful woman saw him, she appeared in front of him and squatted down, hugging him. She thanked him for talking to Sasuke and asked Naruto to play with Sasuke more often.

After that, Naruto spent four years of making new friends, coming to slowly alter his appearance into something similar to what the man had wore. He thought the clothes his Sensei chose to wear one his off time were so much better than what he would have chosen. His clothes consisted of gray, red, black and white.

The first thing Naruto put on was a blood-red long-sleeved shirt. Then he donned his light gray pants, tucking the shirt into them. Next he put on a light gray short-sleeved shirt, over which went a sleeveless white vest. Lastly were his black shinobi sandals and black hitai-ate. He had improved upon what his sense wore, or at least in his opinion, with the white vest. He had also changed to grey pants and shirt from black. He didn't want to look like an Uchiha by wearing only red and black like his sensei. He wanted to dress _like_ his sensei, not exactly as he had.

After Mikoto talked with him, he and Sasuke hit it off. He eventually became better friends with Sasuke than he was with Kiba, so he was ecstatic when he was paired with one of them in the team assignments. He finished in the upper half of his class, and judging by his third teammate, Mikoto had pulled some strings.

* * *

"Next is Team Seven. Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki. Your Sensei is Kakashi Hatake." Naruto wasn't quite as excited about the team as Sasuke was, but he had learned to put up with that pink-haired banshee...

As usual, he was sitting next to Kiba, with Sasuke and Sakura two rows below him. He switched between a grimace and a grin several times, settling on a frown. Kiba clapped him on his back once, showing Naruto that he knew just how much Sakura bothered him. Naruto nodded his thanks, and listened to the other assignments. His frown returned when the rest of the Jōnin picked up their genin and left Team Seven behind.

It also may have had something to do with the Kiba's sensei being so damned gorgeous.

_'Hmm...' _Naruto thought._ 'Sasuke and I are at the top of the class. How are we paired together?' _Naruto looked down to the couple, scowling. _'And if Sakura is with Sasuke too? His best friend and his girlfriend?' _He sighed. _'Mikoto.'_

When Kakashi finally arrived, he took them to the top of the Academy and had them speak of their hobbies, likes and dislikes, and goals for the future. Sakura didn't say her goal, and Sasuke's was to restore the Uchiha Clan and to avenge his father. Naruto's was to protect all that could not protect themselves, and to become Hokage. Kakashi did not say his, and merely told them to not eat breakfast tomorrow morning because they would be doing a very strenuous activity tomorrow morning, and to not be late to the Third Training Ground.

* * *

**New Jutsu List (Both mentioned and used)**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) Supplementary. B-Rank (Ninjutsu) - The user creates a solid copy of him or herself that has a mind of its own and will transfer its memory (from the point it was created) to the user and other clones upon being dispelled. It is impossible to tell the difference between the clone and the user. This technique is considered dangerous, because it splits the amount of chakra with however many clones are made.**

**Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique) Supplementary. E-Rank (Ninjutsu) - The user creates a copy of him or herself that can be commanded (mentally) to appear to carry out tasks such as throwing kunai at a target. The kunai would not be real, but would appear to be, and if they scored a hit on the target it would simply pass through, but it is a diversion for a real attack or technique to be used.**

**Doton: Retsudo Tenshō (Tearing Earth Turning Palm) Offensive. C-Rank (Ninjutsu) All Ranges. - The user disrupts the earth sat a target location, causing it to turn to mud and then swirl it, to trap a target deep under ground. It is easy to escape however, and it is best to stun the target before using this technique.**

**Kage Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Explosion Technique) Offensive. A-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short Range. - The user creates a Kage Bunshin with the intent to detonate it. It looks like a normal Kage Bunshin, and will explode rather than dispelling, or could be manually set off using a hand seal. By mixing it in with other Kage Bunshin, or through other tricks, this Jutsu will become extremely effective, being able to completely blow a tree of average size to bits.**

**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Grand Fireball Technique) Offensive. C-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short Range. - The user expels chakra from their lungs in the form of either a gigantic ball, or a continuous flamethrower. The power of the technique depends on how much chakra is put in, as well as the length of time in which the flames are released. **

* * *

**And that's it. ****I made Naruto's thoughts kind of off grammatically on purpose, as at the time he was an eight year old. No flames about that particular thing.**

**I'm going to be answering most questions that are asked via review. The only ones I won't answer are the ones that are in direct relation to the plot, and would be major spoilers.**

**Once more, I am a chronic procrastinator. Only reviews will make me try to update quicker, and even they are no guarantee. I wish I could say that next Friday there will be an update, but that would most likely be a lie. Although, if I set a deadline such as every Friday there will _always_ be a new chapter... I'll have to think more on that. Perhaps I could update every Friday and Sunday night? That sounds good to me, not nearly as much work as posting every day would require, which I'm not open to until July through August, and even then it would probably be every two days. No update this Sunday though - I need time to plan. You'll see why shortly.**

**Anyhow, I _will_ post the next chapter, it will just depend on how the story does. It will depend on how many reviews I receive, as aforementioned. But I will also take favorites and follows into account; just nowhere near how seriously I'll take reviews.**

**Speaking of, whether good or bad, I would like reviews for the story. I want constructive criticism, so I know what I did poorly, or what I did well. I want you to point out any mistakes I might have made, so that I do not make the same mistakes twice. I want you to give me ideas, most of which I will honestly ignore because I've already planned on implementing it. But if there are ideas that I want to use, I'll PM you about it before hand, and I'll give a shout out when I use it.**

**Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing!**

**-Tipsy**


	2. Devoted to Success

**Time for the second installment in the rewrite of the first few chapters! I didn't like how things were, and left out too many things, simply telling you what had happened before. Now I'm writing the background info out, as the basis of the story. Just a note for those of you that stuck through the break I had - I honestly was busy with school and put this story on the back burner, fixing a few things here or there, but when June came along I found time to finish recreating the story. **

**I ask from you only to review, each of the chapters so I know what is good and bad, what you liked and disliked. Without a reader, an writer is without reason. Without a way to measure his success, a writer gets disheartened. Without the knowledge that his work is loved, a writer will give up. **

**A writer with avid readers as his foundation, ones that explain what he's doing wrong and right has the potential to have great success. **

* * *

At seven in the morning, Naruto woke up and bathed. Before however, he made a Kage Bunshin that began preparing breakfast. He ate steamed rice with miso soup and tamagoyaki, then unwrapped the towel around his waist and dressed himself in the gray and white he had come to love.

He opened his door, not bothering to lock it. He had found something rather useful in the scroll left to him for cooking. There was a section on house upkeep, that included how to avoid breakins. He had followed the instructions to the letter, and had found that if someone was to open his door without channelling a bit of chakra into the door handle, a trap would be sprung. The same for if someone broke the glass of one of his windows, or even tried to open it from the outside.

The trap was a simple one, but a civilian would not be able to dodge it. He had several flash and smoke bombs set to be launched at the target and explode upon hitting them. Because he could not know the size and shape of the target he had to use more than one, which usually worked to his advantage. Having one of those explode on your body stings, but having a dozen at once? That sends most running. And any competent ninja would be able to avoid the trap entirely, but they shouldn't need to. Any shinobi trying to enter his apartment would already know how to.

He found himself traveling to the academy, and chuckled. Where he needed to he was the entire opposite direction, and he was already late. He tripped when he remembered he was both two hours late and wasn't supposed to eat breakfast. He broke into a sprint, passing through a section of Konoha dedicated to shinobi supplies. He hadn't been in many of the shops here, only a few. He knew there were all sorts of weapons, and usually stuck with kunai and shuriken, but something had caught his eye and he needed to know what it was.

The shop he had entered was very plain on the outside with simple brick, yet it was extremely intricate on the inside, for all that the shop was. The inside had mounds of kunai and shuriken, but it had a display case going all the way around the walls, littered in swords or all kinds. What had interested Naruto was a simple looking elongated kunai with the Konoha symbol engraved near the handle. He had seen his sensei with one before, and had always wanted to know what it was.

Naruto walked to the shopkeeper, an old man that couldn't have been younger than sixty. He had a weathered face, short white hair, and green eyes that seemed to express a wisdom that few could hope to obtain. He smiled down at the young boy, knowing exactly who he was. He cleared his throat. "Can I help you, young man?"

Naruto nodded, turning to point at what he was interested in. "What are those?" He asked in a polite tone. Something about the man told him he shouldn't do anything that might set him off. Few managed to live to the age he seemed to be at, and the ones that did were usually extremely strong, if not physically then mentally. Chakra reserves were built by strength of body and strength of mind. The more experience a person gained, the more chakra.

"Hmm..." The elderly man walked slowly out from the counter, setting his hands on stable things as he went so that he was fully steadied. Naruto felt a little guilty that he had made the man walk around, but only a little. The old man looked at the object for some time, before asking, "Why did this particular weapon catch your eye?"

"That's because... Someone who helped me when I was little used to use one. I had always wanted to know what it was."

The man crossed his arms before locking a hand on his elbow and moving the other hand to his mouth in a thinking pose. "Did the person who helped you have have hair shaped like flames?"

"Yes," he said while thinking,_ 'How did he know that? How rare are these things?'_

"Ah. That one." He thought for a few more moments, before nodding and unlocking a portion of the display case. He took out two of them, clicking them together when he put them into one of his hands. He locked the display case again and held the one out to Naruto. He was confused, but took the blade. "Those are Konoha Chakra Blades. They're made out of a special metal the conducts chakra." He held it away from both of them, and did what he said they could do. From the metal erupted visible blue chakra, making the blade at least twice as long as it was. "The length depends on how much you channel. Try."

Naruto pointed the blade the same direction, an channeled a little bit of chakra, seeing it shoot across the room. The blade was at least ten feet long. He immediately stopped, seeing the man eyeing him. "Sorry, I don't have the best control. I thought I only put a tiny bit in." The old man hummed again and nodded.

"That's to he expected, seeing the amount of chakra you probably have. It's one thing to start small and build chakra to your size, but you were basically born with it all. Your control will take years to build." The man handed him the other blade, and walked back behind the counter slowly. Naruto walked up to him, and gave him an inquiring look. "They've already been paid for."

"Excuse me?"

"Four years ago, that man came in here and paid for two Konoha Chakra Blades for you, should you ever come in here. Seems he was spot on. Oh, one more thing." Naruto watched the man take out two black sheathes for the blades, looked at him, then got out two that were gray. "Here," was all he said before throwing them at him.

"Sir, thank you," Naruto said with a small smile being all he could muster. "I don't know how I can repay you, Mr..."

"Ikusa. My name is Yasai Ikusa."

"Thank you so much Mr. Ikusa."

"Don't thank me Mr. Uzumaki, thank that man that was keeping an eye or two out for you."

Naruto nodded, figuring out how to strap the blades to his back so that they crossed and one stuck over each of his shoulders. After checking with Yasai that they were secure, he took off at a jog, no longer sensing the dire need to not be any more late than he already was. He might not be using the new weapons today, but he was fairs they would come in handy.

* * *

"Three hours late! And the worst part is, Kakashi-sensei isn't even here yet! You were the second best in the class, and you can't even tell time?" Naruto was currently being chewed out by Sakura, and was trying his best to not tell her to do something inappropriate for Sasuke's sake. He also didn't bother to correct her when she said second best, because he beat Sasuke in everything but written exams. How he beat him in a spar, was tricky but had been done. It was the last time that they were graded, and he had tricked Sasuke into underestimating him. Cheap, but Sasuke never should have fallen for it.

Naruto grumbled a halfhearted apology and jumped into a tree to go to sleep and wait for their sensei. He climbed near the top, and heard someone greet him with a, "Yo." He looked up to see Kakashi reading an orange book, sitting comfortably in the tree.

"Hey. Mind if I sleep for another our?" He asked in a board tone. Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, then shrugged his shoulder.

"Be my guest. I'll wake you when I decide to start. One question though." Naruto gave him a quizzical look, expecting something serious. Instead, he got, "Did you eat breakfast?" Naruto nodded. "Why? I specifically told you not to."

He shrugged. "I forgot, but thinking about it, it would have been stupid to not eat. You said we were doing survival training. Not eating would make us tired and weak, meaning we would be easier pickings to whatever it is we're going to do." Kakashi nodded, then went back to his book. Naruto rolled over, and did exactly as he had requested.

After what felt like a few minutes, Naruto was tapped lightly on the shoulder. He opened a single eye and looked at Kakashi, who made a shooing motion. Naruto nodded, and rolled off the tree, smacking several branches. He landed on his feet, yawning before rapidly shaking his head. Kakashi sighed, then appeared before the three, telling a glorious tale of how he had to help a pregnant women to a hospital after getting a blonde woman her purse back from a thief. Naruto coughed a few times, but they could have sworn the word 'bullshit' was heard.

"Anyhow," Kakashi began, "what we are doing today, is simple." The three genin looked exacerbated, but he ignored them, holding up two bells. "Your task is to get these two bells from me before noon." held set down a clock, at they could see it was ten. "If you don't get a bell, three things happen. One, you fail. Two, you get tied to a stump and have to watch us at lunch. And three, you get sent back to the academy. Any questions?"

"Shouldn't there be three bells?" Sasuke questioned.

"Only if I wanted three students," Kakashi said cheerily. "If you his don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will fail. Begin."

After he said it, Naruto made nine Kage Bunshin, three of which used the **Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique) **to transform into Sakura, and three others transformed into Sasuke. The twelve of them scattered, used to Naruto's plan. Sakura and Naruto might not get along, but when they had to, the trio worked well together. The original three met up a fair distance away from Kakashi, still being able to see them. The three groups of Kage Bunshin that did the same.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and Naruto. "Plan?" He asked in a hushed voice.

Naruto nodded, whispering out, "There's no such thing as a team of two genin and a jōnin. That means he's testing us. Probably seeing if we work together. The only two bells thing would probably drive a wedge in most newly formed teams, but since we've worked together already, it shouldn't be a problem."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded, and Sasuke began to speak. "I think all we need to do is show Kakashi that we're a unified force. We should at least try to get the bells though. Naruto, you know what to do." Naruto's head bobbed up and down. "Sakura, what I want you to do is stand back and use kunai and shuriken to loose the bells." The girl nodded. "Alright, move out."

Naruto dove out of the brush, creating dozens of Kage Bunshin, half of which were transformed into Sasuke before the smoke cleared. The real Sasuke stood in the trees, preparing to strike when the moment was right. Sakura was across the opposite side of the clearing, also waiting to strike with all the kunai and shuriken Naruto and Sasuke had. Both were surprised to see Naruto being beaten down by Kakashi while their sensei wasn't even paying attention and seemed to be more focused on a book.

The army Naruto had created was going back and forth, taking turns attacking Kakashi with only five at a time striking. He was getting fed up though; every kick and punch was being blocked or dodged and Kakashi wasn't even trying. As a matter of fact, Kakashi was dispelling nearly every clone that went near him, striking specific points that seemed to cause immense pain. Naruto remembered every bit of it, but tucked that information away for later use. As it was, he was getting desperate.

The original Naruto was all that was left after a few minutes, and created a dozen more clones with a new idea in his head. When the smoke cleared, they were all holding Konoha Chakra Blades, and each made the blade at least seven times longer than it originally was, about the same as last time. Each of the thirteen Naruto surrounded Kakashi, and began slashing and stabbing and beating him down. He found that the chakra was blunt, but that didn't matter much. All that mattered was giving Kakashi enough trouble so that the other two in his team could strike.

They took the opportunity presented.

Sasuke launched several fireballs, and Sakura found a way to throw scores of kunai and shuriken in only a few seconds of time. Kakashi needed to substitute himself out of the way, but Naruto latched on and Kakashi pulled him with. Naruto didn't hesitate, grabbing both of the bells on his waist and hopping away from Kakashi, also finding himself at least a hundred feet in the air. He rolled when he landed, and tossed a bell to both Sasuke and Sakura.

The blonde boy cursed when Kakashi caught both of the bells before their targets were found. "My, my," the Hatake exclaimed. "I guess I can't underestimate you three. Quite the team, if a little rough around the edges. Try again though. You'll need more than a single try to beat me."

Naruto grumbled at had two Kage Bunshin get Sasuke and Sakura, and set the task of gathering kunai and shuriken up to the other ten. In a matter of moments, the trio was together with all of their supplies and were scheming up a new way to beat Kakashi. Naruto had a devilish grin and had all twelve clones throw down all their smoke bombs, covering the field in a thick gas. In the meantime, the real Naruto went to using his keen ears and sense of smell to find Kakashi. He took out his Konoha Chakra Blades, already quite fond of them, and proceeded to hit the copycat ninja every few seconds, focusing on his waist.

He tried to make the chakra channeling from the blades thinner in hope they would cut better, and thought he heard the two bells jingle on the ground. He sent a clone in to tackle Kakashi, and moved in to grab the bells. Before he could reach them however, he was pulled up into the air and out of the smoke, only to see Kakashi bending over to grab what had fallen. Sasuke dashed in and also made a grab for the bells, only to find himself in the same predicament as Naruto. Kakashi chuckled. "I'm starting to like you two," he said with his eye closed in what could have been interpreted as a smile.

He opened it back up and saw Sakura in front of him in the basic academy taijutsu stance, preparing to come at him. He shrugged and went back to his book, not worrying the least bit about her, because it was at that moment the bell rang. He looked up from the orange book of porn to congratulate his squad on their teamwork, and to tell them that they passed.

* * *

"Naruto-baka! It got away again because of you!" Screamed a certain pink-haired banshee... Err, girl. Naruto glared at her, then stalked away from the duo.

_'I pushed the stupid cat right to you, and you couldn't even see it, much less catch it. That's pathetic... Sasuke isn't being much help either, now that he's around Sakura so much, he's just letting me do all the work! If I ever meet a kunoichi that's worthwhile, I swear I won't be useless to everyone else when I'm around her.'_

Naruto spotted the cat, running across a nearby rooftop._ 'How the hell did it get up there?' _He jumped as high as he could, made a Kage Bunshin and jumped off of it to land in front of the cat again. Kakashi had forbidden him to use shadow clones to help _look_ for the cat, but he had found plenty of other ways to use them. The most useful was using a few to hurl him across several streets, to get an aerial view. Landing had hurt the first time he did it, but he figured it out after doing it twice more.

The cat he was chasing was named Tora. Tora had a red ribbon on her right ear, was brown and had lighter brown stripes on her head. She was owned by the wife of the Fire Daimyo, and ran away more times than one could count. It was the first Mission that he had ever done, and Naruto was sick of it already. He leapt after the cat, angry at his inability to capture it. With his speed, it should have taken him three seconds to catch a normal cat after sighting it. It couldn't be a normal cat; it was far too skilled. Although, with as much as it ran away, he wouldn't be surprised if it had started to unconsciously use its meager amount of chakra to help it escape.

After missing the cat twice more, Naruto growled. He turned around, letting the cat go. He marched over to the two morons that were currently following him, glared at both of them. Then he took Sasuke by the collar of his shirt, and threw him at Tora before he knew what had happened. "Help me out you ass!" Naruto shouted. Sakura took a swing at him when she figured out what he had done, but Naruto was already after the Uchiha.

Sasuke stood from the roof he had landed on, looked around, then took Naruto's place in the chase. Naruto soon caught up to him, at which point Sasuke kicked Naruto into a nearby two story building. "That was for throwing me," he said, before scanning the area for Tora.

Naruto growled, but held his ground. "There," he said, pointing. Sasuke nodded, and Naruto began working his way to the other side of Tora to flank her. Upon receiving a nod, both the Uchiha and the Uzumaki sprinted towards the target. Sasuke was closer, so when Tora heard him she jumped in the opposite direction; that direction ending her up in Naruto's arms. Naruto glared at him again. "See how easy it was when you actually _helped_? That took less than three minutes."

Sasuke looked away. "I guess," he said. He sighed. "Sorry," Sasuke said after making eye contact.

Naruto shrugged, saying, "Just don't do it again. If it's something I can do alone, it's fine I guess. But when Kakashi tells me that I can't use Kage Bunshin to help catch the cat, right there you should have helped me out after seeing me fail to capture it twice. I failed to grab Tora at least twenty times! Do you know how I felt, knowing that you wouldn't help me no matter how many times I failed without making you?" When Sasuke looked away again, Kakashi and Sakura arrived, the former taking Tora from Naruto's hands.

"Well done, you two. Once we get Tora back to her owner, we'll do another mission. Okay?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Naruto however, asked him if he could use Kage Bunshin on the rest of the missions, to which Kakashi said yes.

After delivering Tora to her owner Madam Shijimi, who proceeded to smother her to the point that Tora scratched her, Team Seven made their way through Konoha to the Mission Assignment Desk at a lazy pace. It was located in the Ninja Academy, and was in a room with six large windows that stretched from the floor to the high ceilings. The kanji for the word shinobi was written on the ceiling.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting at the desk, smoking his pipe. Iruka Umino was also at the desk, as were three other chūnin or jōnin; it was hard to tell rank solely through appearance. There was another squad ahead of them, so they had to wait. Naruto used the time examining then people in front of him.

One of them had long dark-brown hair that was tied in a loose ponytail at the bottom. He was wearing a tan short-sleeved shirt, and black shorts. His weapons pouch was on his left buttock, and his kunai holster was on his right leg. His right arm and leg was bandaged; possibly from training.

The next person Naruto inspected also had dark-brown hair, but her hair had two buns on the top of her head instead of simply falling to the ground. She was wearing a pink blouse and dark green pants, her weapons pouch was on the left side of her fine... and her kunai holster was also on her right leg.

The other two were wearing spandex. _Green_ spandex. They both had black hair, cut in a bowl-style, and they were wearing orange leg warmers around their calves. One of them, presumably the sensei, was wearing a Konoha flak jacket. The other had bandages around his hands and forearms. _'Who in their right mind would wear...' _His face began to turn a different shade. _'No, what _man_ in his right mind like wear spandex?' _Naruto shook his head before he watched them turn around.

The guy with long hair looked more arrogant than Sasuke, and had the palest eyes he had ever seen, even more pale than Hinata's. The girl turned out to be very pretty, but as he saw she was staring at the first kids head and face out of the corner of her eyes, he sighed again. Then the person with spandex, the older one, ran up to Kakashi, followed by his protégé.

"Yosh! Kakashi, how have you been? I have not seen you since you got your genin team! Did they pass?" He looked down at them. "I guess they did! How about we have a little spar, any of your students against Lee or Neji or Tenten?" He appeared behind each as he said their name. "Is that okay with you all?" Gai asked his Team. Lee nodded, but Neji and Tenten both shook their heads.

Kakashi raised up his hands. "Whoa there, slow down now. They don't even know each other yet." Kakashi walked behind Sasuke and Sakura, introducing them both, then he rubbed Naruto's head. "And this, is Naruto Uzumaki," Kakashi said. Gai nodded, understanding. "Now then, I'm guessing none of you want to take on Lee?"

Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads, but Naruto was still assessing his chances. After half a minute, Naruto nodded. "I'll take you on," Naruto said with a grin. Lee nodded rapidly.

"Yosh! Naruto-san, give me a good fight! " Lee shouted.

Kakashi sighed. _'Get ready for a lifetime of rivalry, Naruto,'_ Kakashi thought. "Well, I guess we won't be getting another mission today," he said to his team, and then he looked at Gai. "Where will they spar?"

Gai put his hand to his chin, obviously in thought. "Our mission does not start until tomorrow, but I would still like to start as soon as possible. Meet at the Third Training Ground, in ten minutes?" Kakashi nodded. "Yosh! Lee, you must get ready! I fear that Naruto-kun is most youthful." Team Gai rushed out, with Neji frowning and Tenten groaning.

Kakashi sighed. "Sasuke, Sakura, you're dismissed. Naruto, follow me." The three genin nodded, and Naruto followed Kakashi without a word until the were well away from the Mission Assignment Desk.

"Kakahi-sensei, how long has Lee been a shinobi?"

"About a year longer than you have been. If I remember correctly, he has no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"So he only uses taijutsu? This should be easy then!" Naruto grinned again.

"No, Naruto. It most certainly will not be easy. Gai uses almost all taijutsu as well, yet he's a jōnin. That means that he's very highly proficient with it, which means Lee will be too." Kakashi looked away. "Speed isn't everything though. As long as you can _see_, you have a chance to beat anyone." Kakashi looked again at Naruto, and set his hand on his shoulder. "You must be able to track the movements of anyone you face, and you must also get fast enough to defeat them. That's all you should get out of this spar, Naruto."

_'Damn,' _Naruto thought._ 'That means I'm about to get my ass handed to me.'_

They arrived at the Third Training Ground shortly before Gai did with Lee. Neji and Tenten were nowhere to be found, so Naruto assumed they had been dismissed. He looked up at the sky._ 'It was getting late anyways...'_

Naruto and Lee both walked away from their sensei's, and bowed to each other. Lee settled into a stance, as did Naruto, and Gai shouted, "Begin!"

Naruto initiated by sprinting to the left, putting a bit of distance between Lee and himself. Lee followed him easily though, and caught him within three seconds. Naruto swung his leg at him as hard as he could, but Lee deflected it with a flick of his wrist. Lee swung his own leg now, and Naruto thought he had successfully blocked it. When pain erupted from his side he knew he had not.

Naruto was sent flying, staying a foot above the ground the whole time. Lee stopped him before he crashed into trees, and knocked him straight up. Dazed, Naruto could think of only one hand seal to make. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Hundreds of Naruto littered the air, each with their own determined look. Lee was in awe when he jumped up and took out a few of the clones. He was unaware that they were solid, and was simply looking for the real Naruto. For them to be true clones was astonishing for the young genin.

"Naruto-kun! That is a very impressive technique!" Then Lee proceeded to dispel the clones as they reached the ground. Naruto happened to be the highest one up, and winced each time Lee kicked a clone. He groaned when it was his turn. He smashed into a tree this time.

_'It felt like he hit me with a bag of rocks...'_ Naruto raised up his hands before Lee could hit him again. "No more!" Lee stopped his fist an inch from his gut. "I surrender..." He reached out before Lee took a stop back, and grabbed his calf. _'Oh wow... He's weighted down and he's still that fast? Maybe I'm just really slow...'_ He pulled his hand away and looked up at Lee. "I just wanted to make sure." Lee smiled, and held out his hand. "Thanks, Lee. How about we spar again one day? When I'm a bit stronger."

"I would like that very much, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked over to Kakashi. "Am I dismissed?"

Kakashi exchanged a look with Gai. "After I take you to the hospital and they say that the blood gushing out of your side is normal, yes."

"Huh?" Naruto looked down, and sure enough. His white vest was ruined and covered in blood. He lifted his shirt to reveal nothing more than a long scratch. He leaned over to the side opposite the would and saw blood shoot out. He immediately stood normally. Naruto turned around and saw the tree he had smashed in to have a particularly sharp looking branch that was covered in blood. He started to feel dizzy. _'Damn... lost a lot of blood... Need weights...' _Kakashi caught him before he hit the ground.

* * *

For the next three weeks Team seven did D-Rank missions, which included fixing fences and other such boring tasks. Naruto had not seen Lee since their first encounter, and was beginning to consider tracking him down. He needed to speak with him. Naruto couldn't even follow his movements; he looked like more of a blur than anything else. He was bored. He thought that being a ninja would be more exciting; not as dry as it had been. They _were_ doing the easiest mission's possible though.

Naruto had started to pester Kakashi about it after he had recovered from his spar with Lee, which had been the next day. When Naruto got Sasuke to begin piling on, Kakashi relented. Now, after meeting the smelly and drunken bridge builder Tazuna, and after Tazuna insulted Naruto by saying he looked like he was an idiot, they were going to escort him to the Land of Waves.

* * *

Team seven gathered before the main gate of Konoha, a small panel open rather than the entire thing. Naruto gazed up at the great gate, wondering how tall a tree it took to build such a thing. The gate must have been one hundred feet high, ten thick and eighty wide. Then there were the actual walls of Konoha, each probably twenty feet thick and just as tall. _'I understand the walls... A master Doton user could probably make those over a few years, but the gate? Are there even trees of that size?'_

Naruto raised a hand in greeting when Sasuke arrived, and again when Sakura did, though she glared at him. Kakashi arrived with Tazuna, Kakashi trying to make polite conversation with the bridge builder about their mission.

Trying.

They departed soon after, Naruto taking the lead, with Sasuke and Sakura on either side of Tazuna, and Kakashi taking rear. He was reading his favorite orange book, but he was just as alert as the other three, if not more so.

After about an hour or two, they noticed a puddle in the middle of the road. Sasuke and Sakura thought nothing of it, but Naruto was trying to figure out the last time it had rained. He moved back to ask Kakashi about it. The jōnin mumbled to him, after they had passed the puddle, "Get ready." Upon finishing, two ninja leapt out of the puddle, their pathetic genjutsu dispelling.

On the left hand of one was a metal claw, and on the right of the other shinobi was the other half of the set. A long shuriken chain shot from both gloves, wrapping around Kakashi. Sasuke and Sakura turned around to see their sensei get torn apart. Sakura screamed.

Naruto dropped his pack, then sprung to action, creating seven Kage Bunshin; four Naruto for each of the cloaked shinobi. Each took out a Chakra Blade, but one was immediately dispelled, being torn apart by one of the ninja. The other wrapped his shuriken chain around the real Naruto, but he used a simple **Kawarimi (Body Replacement) **to escape. He had replaced himself with a log in the blink of an eye, the jutsu taking place with such speed that the ninja didn't know until the chain stuck in the wood. The cloaked shinobi detached it and engaged the three clones that had surrounded him.

The other shinobi had already dispatched his clones, and shot his chain to wrap around Tazuna. Sasuke deflected it with a few kunai sticking in the shuriken, forcing him to detach his chain as well. Naruto took that moment to lunge at the enemy ninja from the trees above. He took out one of his Chakra Blades, but the ninja saw him, and turned to face him. He pulled back his claw, ready to strike. Naruto did likewise with his Chakra Blade, except before they met he extended the blade and slashed at the shinobi, forcing him to block it with his claw.

The two grappled, Naruto holding back his claw by gripping the forearm of the weapon arm, and the other ninja keeping his Chakra Blade at an angle that it was harmless. Naruto saw Sasuke _finally _move to attack the other shinobi, but not before he could run over to Naruto and tear his back. He howled in pain, giving the other man a chance he needed. He broke his regular hand away and punched Naruto in the gut, hard. He was sent in the air a few feet, and flipped over. He felt his back tear open again, opposite the first claw.

Naruto landed with one of his hands on the ground, his back burning but still too frustrated to quit. The shinobi, dismissing him as defeated for some reason, had turned on Tazuna. Naruto took out his other Chakra Blade and lunged at the shinobi, stabbing and piercing his lungs with both.

Kakashi decided to at that moment save Sasuke by kicking the ninja's head. When he saw that the threat had been removed, Naruto collapsed, not even caring that he had just seen Kakashi be torn to shreds, yet he was right in front of him.

Sasuke ran over to Naruto, a worried look that Naruto seldom saw on his friend's face. "Are you gonna be okay?" Sasuke asked while he looked at Naruto's back. Naruto nodded. "Are you sure?" Naruto shook his head. After a minute, Naruto began to remove his shirts.

"Get me some water, Sasuke." His friend rushed over to his pack, which he had also dropped on the ground before he began fighting. Out of it he pulled a canteen, and rushed it back to Naruto. Naruto took it gratefully, then poured some over his back so he could really assess his wounds. "Well?" Naruto asked in a whisper. "How does it look?"

Kakashi, who had recently walked over now that he had tied up the two enemy shinobi to a tree, responded. "Well," he began, after prodding and poking none to gently, "it's a good thing you bled as much as you did. It got all the poison out. "

"Poison?"

"Yep." Kakahi smiled. "Try not to bend your back too much for a few hours and you'll be fine." He started to walk towards Tazuna, then turned around. "Sorry about that, I wanted to see what you guys could really do. I should have stepped in sooner, but I wanted to see who those two were after."

Naruto was seething and was ready to say dozens of things, but Sasuke stepped on his hand. "Test us in a different way next time," Sasuke said.

Kakashi turned from the two again, walked right up to Tazuna, wrapped his arm around his shoulder, and took the man for short walk. After they were about two hundred feet from the genin, Kakashi turned on him. "Start talking."

"I would really rather not..."

Kakashi sighed. "Listen. This can go one of two ways. One, I could take you back to Konoha for lying about a mission. You paid a fee for a simple C-Rank escort, yet with actual ninja attacking you this is at least a B-Rank mission. That means you'll suffer another fee, one I suspect you can't afford, otherwise you would have told us the truth to begin with." Tazuna looked down. "Or, you can tell me exactly what to expect, and I'll make my call on whether to continue on or to go back to Konoha for backup. It's your choice Tazuna."

The bridge builder sighed, long and deep. "You're right. I can't afford what this mission should be, because the Land of Waves is in a crisis. You know who Gatō is, right?" Kakashi bobbed his head. "He's really a nasty man that sells drugs and other illegal items, and hired missing-nin and thugs to take over Nami no Kuni."

"Gatō is one of the few rich people in the entire world, so he _would_ have the resources..."

"He soon controlled the ports and shipping companies, and because the Land of Waves is isolated the way it is, he had nothing to worry about."

"Except your bridge."

"Yes... The country is now incredibly poor. Even the Feudal Lord had no money. But it's okay if you guys leave now. If I die my grandson will just cry a few days. And my daughter will live a sad life and hate Konoha shinobi forever." He smiled. "But it won't be your fault. Not at all!"

_'Damn...'_

_'I win.'_

"I don't think my team is up to a task such as this..." He walked away. "I'll talk to them, and see what they think. If Naruto wants to continue, we will. He's injured pretty badly though ..." Kakashi sighed. "He'll be off the walls again tomorrow though."

Kakashi explained the situation to the three of them, and sure enough, Naruto was eager to continue on. Sakura wanted to quit, but if not for her, Sasuke would have wanted to continue as well. He had sided with her though.

* * *

"There's the bridge," Tazuna said in a whisper. There was an extremely thick fog, yet they were still able to make out they bridge. What he had pointed at was a gigantic thing that must have stretched a hundred feet across, and the pillars for the structure must have been twenty feet in diameter.

"Whoa," the three genin each said in their own way yet at the same time.

"Keep quiet," said the man who was steering the small boat. "Why do you think the engine is off?" He glared at them, Sakura in particular because she had been the loudest.

They passed underneath the huge structure, docking only point enough to get them off. Tazuna festered at the meager dock. "Gatō has control of all the large ports, brut there are still a few we can use to come and go. Now get me home." He set off at a pace quicker than their previous, hurrying home as best he could. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far before Kakashi shouted for them to get down, and none too soon.

A sword the likes of which Naruto had never seen passed through where they were, It probably would have cut all of other clean in half like they were long blades of grass. The sword struck a tree, going deep enough for it to stick, but not so deep that it would be difficult for a shinobi to remove the blade.

The sword itself looked like a gigantic butcher's knife in the shape of a long sword. It was probably seven feet long altogether, the blade being five and a half, there was a semicircle on the edge of the blade near the side closer to the handle, and there was a full circle inside the opposite side. The circle took up about half blade width of his sword, none of the actual blade being carved out. It appeared to be large enough to fit a head in the circle. A man appeared on the handle of the sword.

He was wearing purplish-blue pinstriped pants, with white and brown camouflage leg and arm warmers. He wore no shirt, but he did have a strap to carry his sword on his back. His neck and mouth were hidden from view by bandages. His skin was a pale gray color.

"Well well, if I'm not mistaken you're the missing-nin Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi said while taking a step forward.

"And if I'm not mistaken," he said in a rough voice, "you're Kakashi of the Sharingan." The genin looked at their sensei, two of the three wondering what the sharingan was. The other was just wondering how Kakashi came to be known by that name.

"Sharingan?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke. He knew it had something to do with the Uchiha, but really had no idea what it was or did.

"It's one of the Three Great Dōjutsu," Sasuke replied. "It's a kekkai genkai possessed by people of the Uchiha Clan, but very few awaken their eyes. It can read the movements of others, but that's not the scariest part about it."

"Yes," Zabuza said. "What's truly dangerous about it is that it can copy genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. Now, getting back in topic. I don't suppose you'll hand over that old man, will you? It would save a lot of time."

Kakashi raised his hand to his hitai-ate, and raised off his left eye. "I'm sorry, but that would mean failing the mission and his country. I don't suppose you'll surrender, will you?" Kakashi widened his stance and bent his knees slightly. "It would save a lot of time."

Zabuza laughed, then squatted down to pull his sword from the tree. Naruto moved closer to Tazuna, with Sasuke and Sakura getting on either side of the old man. Zabuza pulled his sword free and appeared on the water next to Team seven. "**Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique)**." The Demon of the Mist raised his arm above him, the other in a hand seal, and the land around them was soon covered in a mist so thick that trying to see was useless. Even Kakashi's Sharingan only saw the chakra that was inside the mist, so he couldn't see Zabuza at all. Zabuza was the only one who could see through the dense air, and would use that to his advantage the entire fight.

To fight with only using ones ears took years to practice, and even then very few out of those could successfully do it without dying. Zabuza was one of these few, perfecting his skill with the Kirigakure no Jutsu, so that he literally _couldn't_ see his target. He found it fun to taunt the target too. "Eight choices," came a whisper through the mist. "Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after?"

After hearing his team be thoroughly frightened, Kakashi raised his hands in a single seal. The chakra he began to release frightened Sasuke and Sakura more than Zabuza's words. Naruto was not frightened by it because he had seen even more chakra being release before; so much that he had been pushed back and the ground had cracked. "Don't worry," Kakashi said. "I'll protect you guys even if it costs me my life to accomplish it."

"We'll see about that," came the whisper. Kakashi saw a very faintly brighter mass of chakra moving at high speeds, and he knew exactly where it was going. He turned around with just enough time to leap to Tazuna and dispel Zabuza's **Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) **by stabbing it through the chest. Water began to pour from the spot he had pierced, and after a few seconds fell down in a splash.

Kakashi saw a look of fear in Naruto's eyes, and knew he was about to be struck down. He fell to the ground, and heard the sword whizz harmlessly over his head. Kakashi jumped backwards and up, hitting Zabuza in the gut with his elbow in the process. He turned around in midair, and took out a kunai to parry the giant cleaver Zabuza was attempting to split him in twain with. He was met with limited success, but did skew the sword off its course enough for him to dispel the second Mizu Bunshin Zabuza had created.

"Sensei!" Sakura cried, but he was in the air and had no time to create something to jump off of to dodge. Thankfully, instead of erupting in blood, their sensei burst into water.

"When did you..." Zabuza began to say, but as a kunai was held to his throat, he silenced himself. He began to laugh. "Impressive. You must have been able to copy it even in this thick mist. You had your clone talk to those brats to draw my attention while you his in the bushes and waited." Another voice came from behind Kakashi. "But I'm not that easy to contain."

Kakashi tore all the way through the Mizu Bunshin in front of him and flattened himself against the ground. As he was moving though, Zabuza brought his leg around and sent Kakashi flying into the water. Kakashi created another Mizu Bunshin to jump off of, and landed in front of Zabuza wince more before he could advance on the bridge builder. Zabuza seemed to growl before he disappeared in the mist again.

Kakashi took out a second a second kunai and squatted down, anticipating Zabuza's next strike. Kakashi stabbed the two kunai into the ground and worked trough a few hand seals. _'__**Fūton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) **__should give me some vision,'_ he thought before immediately picking up his kunai, and not a moment too soon. His jutsu had blown away much of the mist around him, and was very lucky he had done so, else he would have been cleaved into many pieces.

He was surrounded by eight Zabuzas, each rasing their swords to strike down at him. Kakashi reached out to either side and slashed two of them, tearing through their legs of water before raising his kunai to block of the one of the swords. Then five more pressed down on the first one, and the weight started to become two much for Kakashi. He kicked one leg out to destroy one of the clones, then he made a Mizu Bunshin without seals, much to his discomfort. It wasted far more of his chakra than he would have like to not use seals. The rest of the Zabuza soon fell apart to water.

When Kakashi looked around again, Zabuza appeared on top of the water, forming hand seals at an admiral pace, yet Kakashi was forming seals too. The same seals, at the same time. "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Bullet Technique)**," Zabuza said.

"Suiton: Suirūdan no Jutsu," Kakashi said in unison with Zabuza. Two dragons surged from the water, each equal in size. Zabuza and Kakashi both raised their dragons up, then sent them crashing down towards their target. The result was an explosion of water that came from the two constructs, damaging their creators more than the intended target. Zabuza and Kakashi both broke off the jutsu and charged each other, Kakashi holding a kunai and Zabuza swinging his giant sword. When they met, Kakashi successfully parried his massive weapon, and the two broke off and circled each other before both raising their left arms, their hands both in a seal.

_'Strange,' _thought Zabuza._ 'What's going on? My movements... he's completely-'_

"-reading them." Zabuza's eyes widened in rage.

_'Damn, that-'_

"-freaky eye-"

_'-is pissing-'_

"-me off." Kakashi smiled under his mask when he watched Zabuza become even more enraged. _'Someone like Zabuza is easy to predict. Someone more like Naruto and it would be so much harder to guess what they were thinking.'_

"All you're doing is copying me!" Zabuza shouted. "You can't beat me you monkey bastard!"

"You can't beat me you monkey bastard!" Kakashi shouted with Zabuza.

The Demon of the Mist began going through hand seals again, and Kakashi was with him every step. Zabuza faltered when he saw himself looming over Kakashi going through the seals._ 'That's... not possible. It must be one of his genjutsu.'_

"**Suiton: Daibakuha no Jutsu (Water Explosion Technique)**!" Kakashi shouted, throwing off Zabuza. He had recognized the jutsu Zabuza was going to use, and had already copied such a jutsu before. It wasn't easy going through the seals at a faster rate than Zabuza though, but he figured if he could manage it, it would make the man come to fear his sharingan even more. After sufficient charging, a gigantic tornado of water shot out from behind Kakashi, slamming into Zabuza and sending him into a tree. When Zabuza had hit the tree, he had disappeared. _'No, not disappear. He dissipated. Which means...' _Sure enough, when Kakashi turned his head he saw Zabuza running at the bridge builder at such speeds that the old man did not even see him coming. _'No! I'm too far away!'_

Zabuza might have been invisible to Tazuna, but Sasuke and Naruto were able to see him. Naruto patted Sasuke on the arm, and the Uchiha cleared his head. Both he and Naruto took out a kunai, and Naruto jumped up above Tazuna, making a familiar seal to buy the two a bit of time before Kakashi could help them. Meanwhile, Sasuke transformed Sakura, Tazuna, and himself into copies of Naruto via the Henge no Jutsu. Zabuza seemed to grumble, and began taking out dozens of Naruto's at a time. He was infuriated when one of the Naruto managed to parry his blade with a kunai, but it's not like he was trying. He was just swinging his blade as fast as he could before Kakashi arrived, but it was fairly predictable.

When that Kage Bunshin transformed into Kakashi, Zabuza understood. "Just kidding," the Kage Bunshin said before turning back into Naruto and laughing. A vein began to pop out of Zabuza's temple. Zabuza gripped his blade with both his hands, and swung down at the brat with all his might, but it was blocked by Kakashi. The wielder of the sharingan kicked Zabuza back over to the water while he was holding back his over-sized butcher's knife. Zabuza charged right back over, loosing a feral roar.

Sparks came from both their weapons when Zabuza began to attack with seemingly no other thought. Again and again the Demon swung, and over and over Kakashi was forced to take a step backwards. He was eventually forced into the middle of the lake, a place he felt he should not be. Before he could think of something to escape however, he felt a pair of hands drag him under the water. Kakashi took a deep breath before he felt a bubble of water enclose around him, trapping him.

"Now I've got you trapped in my **Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)**. What will you do now, Kakashi?" the Hatake tried with all his might to move his body, but found his arms and legs bound being repressed. He found that he could wiggle his head and move his mouth, but that wouldn't help him much in escaping.

"Demon," Kakashi spat in frustration.

Zabuza laughed. "I see my reputation precedes me, just as yours does you." He looked at the mass of Narutos. "How about a little story while your sensei's lungs fill with water? When I was about your age, my hands were already dyed red with blood. You might have heard Kakashi calling me a Demon. That's because long ago, the Hidden Mist Village was also know as the Blood Mist Village. There was a final obstacle to becoming a ninja for the newly trained students." He grinned ear to ear underneath his mask of bandages. "It was to fight one of you classmates... to the death." Zabuza laughed and laughed, but then stopped abruptly. "I never was good at jokes. I forgot to tell you the punch line before I laughed. They had to rethink their ways when I killed my entire class of one hundred." He began laughing again.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Take Sakura and Tazuna and run!" Kakashi shouted. "He can't move away from me so long as he's holding this jutsu, and his Mizu Bunshin can't move far from him! Run!"

One of the Naruto said, "I'll leave some Kage Bunshin here to buy some time." the Naruto that was Sasuke nodded, and a group of six Naruto broke from the pack and began to run.

Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin charged after them, but got kicked in the head by one of the Kage Bunshin. He shouted and stabbed through Naruto, not surprised to see a puff of smoke. Each Naruto took out shuriken and began to throw them at Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin from all angles, trying to give it the tiniest of nicks to dispel it. He vanished, reappearing only when he had to stand still to avoid a shuriken. Naruto aimed for these moments, and had several Naruto transform into bushes to use for a later time.

The lead Naruto took out a kunai and when he saw Zabuza stop, lunged for him. He got swatted down, becoming very acquainted with the ground after he tried so many times to destroy the Mizu Bunshin. After losing nearly every Kage Bunshin, Zabuza finally landed to the immediate left of one of the transformed Naruto, and got his foot cut off. He splashed down, causing the real Zabuza to grunt.

Zabuza created another ten Mizu Bunshin, intent on destroying the remaining Naruto. He did so easily, with one exception.

When he kicked one into a tree, and he coughed up blood. "Oh? What have we here?" The Zabuza Clone kicked Naruto's chest again, and he spat more blood. The rest of the Zabuza gathered around him and began pounding on him, getting off on his screams of pain.

"I would prefer it if you stopped that," a cold voice said. Zabuza, the real one, had been too focused on listening to the brat scream to notice a man in the clearing. He wore a black cloak, and had a straw hat on. His eyes and face were shielded by the cloak.

"And if I refuse?" Zabuza asked.

"I will kill you," he said in a calm voice.

* * *

**New Jutsu List (Both mentioned and used)**

******Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique) Supplementary. E-Rank (Genjutsu) - The user channels their chakra before picturing something in their head that they wish to look like. They can also change others, depending on the usage. This technique is easy to see through when looked at closely, but for a diversion this is a priceless jutsu, especially because the amount of chakra required is so minimal.**

**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) Defensive. D-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short Range. - The user replaces their body with something, usually a piece of wood, to avoid damage and temporarily escape their attacker at the same time. The user could substitute with almost anything however, and in the blink of an eye.**

**Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique) Supplementary. D-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short to Mid Range. - The user uses the water around them to create a fog, with the thickness depending on the amount of chakra used for the ninjutsu. Skilled shinobi such as Zabuza can use this technique without a source of water, being able to create a fog in the middle of a desert should the need arise.**

**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Technique) Supplementary. C-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short to Mid Range. - The user creates a clone that is very similar to a Kage Bunshin in that it can carry out tasks that the user is unable or unwilling to do, yet can only move a limited distance from the user before falling apart. It has one-tenth the power of the original.**

**Fūton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) Supplementary/Offensive. C-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short to Mid Range. - The user fills their lungs with Wind Chakra, and expels it in a burst capable of splintering trees, depending on the amount of chakra used. It can also be used to clear away poison or other undesirable gases.**

**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Bullet Technique) Offensive. B-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short to Mid Range. - The user creates a dragon made of pure water, and can then control it. Upon reaching its destination it will burst, and deal a formidable amount of damage. The size and speed of the Dragon is directly dependent on the skill of the user.**

**Suiton: Daibakuha no Jutsu (Water Explosion Technique) Offensive. B-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short Range. - The user begins to churn the water deep underneath their feet, and when the water on the surface begins to be distorted, sends the twister at a target. While above the water, the twister is able to spin even faster, creating an even more powerful force, capable of toppling several trees. The size and power of the jutsu depends on the amount of time the user channels the technique, and how deep the water is.**

**Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique) Supplementary. C-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short Range. - The user surrounds a target with extremely dense water, trapping the target. It is a virtually inescapable sphere of water, that only brute force could have a chance to break due to the water's density restricting movements. Another way to escape the Water Prison would be to expel chakra from all points, disrupting the chakra in the water that is pinning them, but both extreme chakra control as well as vast reserves are required to do so. The only downside to the technique is that one arm of the user must remain inside the sphere at all times, else the target would escape.**

* * *

**And that's it. Yes, a cliffhanger. Maybe that's what my other story was missing. Ah, we'll never know.**

**I'm going to be answering most questions that are asked via review. The only ones I won't answer are the ones that are in direct relation to the plot, and would be major spoilers.**

**Once more, I am a chronic procrastinator. Only reviews will make me try to update quicker, and even they are no guarantee. I wish I could say that next Friday there will be an update, but that would most likely be a lie. Although, if I set a deadline such as every Friday there will ****_always_**** be a new chapter... I'll have to think more on that. Perhaps I could update every Friday and Sunday night? That sounds good to me, not nearly as much work as posting every day would require, which I'm not open to until July through August, and even then it would probably be every two days. No update this Sunday though - I need time to plan. You'll see why shortly.**

**Anyhow, I ****_will_**** post the next chapter, it will just depend on how the story does. It will depend on how many reviews I receive, as aforementioned. But I will also take favorites and follows into account; just nowhere near how seriously I'll take reviews.**

**Speaking of, whether good or bad, I would like reviews for the story. I want constructive criticism, so I know what I did poorly, or what I did well. I want you to point out any mistakes I might have made, so that I do not make the same mistakes twice. I want you to give me ideas, most of which I will honestly ignore because I've already planned on implementing it. But if there are ideas that I want to use, I'll PM you about it before hand, and I'll give a shout out when I use it.**

**Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing!**

**Oh! How was the summary?**

**-Tipsy**


	3. Battle of the Bridge

**Hey! I'm back, and I have to say, I honestly didn't expect the first chapter to be received so... **

**It was in the middle of meeting my expectations and failing them, so I suppose that's pretty good considering my expectations are damn near impossible to meet. I fail them often, so even this halfway I view as success, however slight.**

**There is something I mention in this chapter about body energy. Could you all tell me if I'm crazy or not in a review, or that it makes sense if it does?**

**I wish there were more questions to answer, but sadly hardly any were asked, one of which I couldn't answer due to the answer being a spoiler. But, as for the shout outs I said, here they are (slightly paraphrased):**

**SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan: Is Itachi a criminal or not after the failed massacre?**

**Yes, Itachi is a criminal. His Clan wanted his blood, so he was told to flee the village by the Sandaime. Danzō wanted to keep him as an ANBU member, as his mask would hide his face and his hair could be cut, but Itachi followed Hiruzen's instructions.**

**shadow wolf125767: When is Samui going to be introduced?**

**Shortly after the Land of Waves arc comes to an end. I'm sure many of you can guess what that means.**

**FireB****allOfAmaterasu: The summary mentioned Naruto gaining strong eyes. Will this story eventually revolve around some dōjutsu, be it real or made up?**

**If you can divine the meaning of my title, the answer you seek will be what you find. Or, you could be lazy and wait until you read it in here.**

**FireBallOfAmaterasu: Sasuke is very much different in this story from his canon self. Will he still defect from Konoha, to gain the power to defeat his older brother?**

**Unfortunately, yes. He will still defect from Konoha to gain power. He is not consumed by revenge as he was in canon, still is brother slaughtered his entire clan, including his father. How could he not want to kill him? And Orochimaru presents him power as well as a shortcut to it.**

**ShakePapa: Who was Naruto's sensei? Was he an OC?**

**I'm afraid I can only answer the first question, and chapter three probably will answer it, depending on how things play out. Naruto's sensei was not an OC. He is someone whose ideals I very much agree with, and someone that reminds me of someone I admire. **

**Well, that's it for the shout outs. I wish there were more, but unless you ask questions, I cannot answer them. I wish I were, but I'm not a telepath. I can't just throw random answers to all your questions. Hell, were I a telepath I could create a story that appeals to hundreds of thousands.**

***sigh***

**I made myself sad thinking about the possibilities...**

**On with the story!**

**Wait, no. Sorry. There's one more thing. Review. The. God. Damn. Story!**

* * *

"I would prefer it if you stopped that," a cold voice said. Zabuza, the real one, had been too focused on listening to the brat scream to notice a man in the clearing. He wore a black cloak, and had a straw hat on. His eyes and face were shielded by the cloak.

"And if I refuse?" Zabuza asked.

"I will kill you," he said in a calm voice.

"Ha!" Zabuza shouted. "You? Kill me?"

"Indeed," the man said. He began to walk up to the Mizu Bunshin, which turned on him and swung their swords. The man took out two kunai and blocked each sword in the blink of an eye, turning them upon the other Mizu Bunshin to destroy three of them. The Mizu Bunshin surrounded him, yet the man never slowed from his objective. He random jabbed out at the Mizu Bunshin, and all but one fell down into a puddle. The last one moved back to the brat, raising his sword to slay him. Five kunai sprouted from his back, yet the man only threw one. He also threw a shuriken at the real Zabuza, nine more forming around the original.

Zabuza was forced to sprint far away from the sphere that was containing Kakashi, who immediately turned on Zabuza. The man was probably a threat, and he would deal with him later, but he had saved Naruto's life and his own, so at the moment he would be considered the enemy of an enemy. "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Bullet Technique)**!" Zabuza was sent crashing into a tree when the jutsu had run its course, and two senbon sprouted from his neck. Kakashi looked around for the source of the dual-pointed needles, only able to find him after he appeared before Zabuza.

"I will be taking this man into my custody," a hunter-nin told him. Kakashi sprinted forward, alarming the kirigakure hunter-nin, and was relieved when he simply leaned down to check his pulse. "Thank you very much. I have been searching for an opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

_'He really is dead...'_ Kakashi thought with relief. He turned around now to deal with the man, swearing when he found that both he and the child he had saved were not to be found. _'Damn... whoever that man is, I hope he's an ally, else Naruto is done for. I've never seen someone use a **Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Kunai Technique) **or a** Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique)** with such precision with no hand seals... He isn't someone I'd like against me.' _He sprinted in the direction his team had run hoping they had not been able to get far, because he needed very desperately to rest and to catch his breath after not breathing for a full three minutes. He was lucky; they hadn't gotten very far at all because of Tazuna.

"Sensei!" They screamed. They had all reverted back to their original appearance, and two of the Kage Bunshin had dispelled.

Kakashi wasn't sure whether to dispel it or not, but he decided to let it continue parading around as the real Naruto. _'No need to put them through something like that just after a confrontation of that scale.' _He walked up to the Kage Bunshin. "Naruto, come with me for a moment." Kakashi turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "Don't worry about Zabuza, a hunter-nin took his body into custody. Keep on the lookout though; more ninja could be after us." The two nodded, with Naruto and Kakashi breaking several yards from them. "What were you thinking?" He asked in a whisper. "Why did you stay in that clearing with me?"

Naruto looked down. "I thought that if I broke you free from the water prison you could beat Zabuza. Where am I? I didn't die, did I?"

Kakashi sighed. "I don't know... but you can find out." The Kage Bunshin looked up at him, the question obvious. "Make another Kage Bunshin with the knowledge that the original needs to make one and dispel it. Okay?" The boy nodded, and did as he was told. He was surprised when he found out that the original was safe and sound.

"He says that when I dispel, he'll send another Kage Bunshin, and that he'll be back in a week. He also said that you couldn't know who the man was, only that he's an old friend of mine," Kakashi was angry, but it was better than being sad.

"Why can't he tell me who that man was?"

"I can't explain that either." Naruto grinned sheepishly, and then said, "Just know that I'm going to be in better condition when I come back. My sensei is going to teach me a few tricks, and how to water walk and tree climb. You should probably teach Sasuke and Sakura that too. It'll help them with chakra control."

Kakashi nodded, then looked at the trees. _'That's a good idea, and these _are_ pretty tall trees... Why haven't I taught them that yet?'_ He looked back at the Kage Bunshin and asked, "Anything else?"

"He says not to tell Sasuke or Sakura about him being gone because it'll alarm them, and that you should have went back to Konoha for backup. It's too late now, but you should have after those two chunin attacked us."

Kakashi nodded again. _'Yeah, should have done that too.' _He began walking back to his group, eager to finish the first part of their mission: delivering Tazuna to the Land of Waves. He would see Naruto soon enough, and for now the Kage Bunshin was a perfect substitute. "Come on, we have to get Tazuna back to his house." After taking a couple of steps, he fell flat on his face._ 'Damn... I used the sharingan too much... My body won't move...'_

* * *

After using the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and seeing the sphere of water fall back to the pond, the man turned to look at the boy. His whisker marks had become more defined, if only slightly over the years. His hair was the same, perhaps a bit longer than it had been, and his eyes reflected a sense of justice that had been lacking before._ 'He has grown in many ways,' _the man thought. _'As has Sasuke.' _

The blonde boy was in obvious pain, but was not oblivious to his surroundings. He was frightened when the juggernaut that had just walked past ten Mizu Bunshin like they weren't there began making his way towards him again. Naruto tried to get up, and succeeded, but could not stay up for longer than a few seconds before falling back down in pain. The figure quickened his pace, reaching Naruto before the boy had another chance to move and hurt himself. He picked him up gently, and traveled far from the area while Kakashi was still occupied.

Figuring out the destination of Team Seven made it easy for him to pick out a direction, and because he had already traveled the area extensively, he knew just where to go. There was a clearing not unlike the one they were in about seven miles to the east, with a smaller pond, six feet deep at the center. It also had taller trees, and enough space to hold a few dozen people on the ground.

He started by looking at Naruto's wounds. The blonde appeared to have three broken ribs, as well as bruises already forming mostly in a line from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. The cloaked shinobi sighed. "This is going to take a lot of chakra I don't want to use to fix him up for later today." He made two hand signs, and his hands began to glow a very bright green. The boy tried to speak, but only coughed up blood. He settled for raising one of his eyebrows, looking at the jutsu.

"**Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique)**. It speeds up the rate of healing so that surgery isn't necessary. And from what I've heard, your rate of healing is already abnormally high. You'll be back to one hundred percent in a few hours. Until then, just stay still. When you can move again, I'm going to teach you how to climb a tree without hands and how to walk on water. It'll help build your chakra control. Then I'll leave, and you can go back to Kakashi."

Naruto nodded, hearing no trace of malice in his voice. "Who..." he croaked. "You..." The man removed his hands to his throat, hoping to speed up the removal of the blood that coated his throat so that they could speak to one another while they waited.

"Who am I?" Naruto nodded. "I'm not surprised he didn't mention me. I, am Itachi Uchiha." Naruto's eyes grew wide with fear, knowing _exactly_ how dangerous the man in front of him was. Itachi chuckled. "You needn't be afraid, little one. I'm here as a favor of your sensei. Your _first _sensei. He and I came to know each other well, and I was the only one he felt he could trust to help you."

Itachi looked away from Naruto in apparent contemplation. "If Kakashi asks who I am, tell him I have forbidden you to tell him. He wouldn't rest until he found you, and that would be disadvantageous to both of us, especially you, because you'd have an opportunity to learn many things taken away from you. Unless of course you don't want to learn from one such as myself. If that happens to be the case, I will help you recover, awaken your sharingan, then leave."

Naruto shook his head, and coughed up the remaining blood that coated his throat. "I won't tell him," he said, and made a Kage Bunshin, dispelling it before he passed out.

* * *

When his team arrived at Tazuna's house, A black haired woman opened the door for them. She had long bangs that framed her face, similar to Sasuke's mother. She wore a pink shirt with red in the collar of her shirt and on the tips of her sleeves. She also had on a dark blue skirt, and had her hands in fists on either side of her waist when she saw who was at the door and the condition the stranger was in. Her eyes locked on Tazuna and waved them inside, ready to begin helping the older Konoha-nin. She was honestly surprised when he said all he needed was to lay down.

When a futon was set up in the living room, Several Narutos laid him down in it. "Are you going to be alright?" Tsunami asked the jōnin. He nodded.

"I should be alright... in about a week. Until then, even walking will be a difficult task for me." Kakashi closed his eyes, eager to get some rest. He sighed mentally when he heard Sakura say the word sharingan, and forced his eye open. She was looking at him. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I said, the sharingan is amazing, but if it puts so much stress on your body, I guess you have to think before you use it." When he nodded, she asked a question. "Who was that masked kid you told us about? From what Naruto said he can't have been much older than us, yet he was so..." She trailed off, unsure how to finish.

Kakashi understood her, and replied with, "He was a Kirigakure hunter-nin. The hunter-nin are also known as body erasers, because their sole task is to hunt down missing-nin and dispose of their bodies. If a missing-nin's body falls into the wrong hands, they could learn the secrets it holds. For example, if I died one could learn the secrets of the sharingan, or worse, implant it. If you aren't careful, the enemy will learn your jutsu and steal if for themselves." He closed his eye again, and drifted into a peaceful slumber before they could respond.

* * *

When Naruto woke, there was a fire next to him with several fish cooked, and three more cooking around the fire. He mulled over what Itachi had told him, and looked at the sun. It had been three hours since his team had encountered Zabuza, give or take a half hour. He shot up off the ground, and ran over to Itachi. "Sharingan?" Naruto practically shouted.

All Itachi did was nod. If he had been surprised by Naruto's outburst, he had hit it well. Itachi motioned to the fish, and Naruto heard his stomach growl. Embarrassed, Naruto sat down and started nibbling on the fish. He ended up eating six, and made a note to himself to eat more fish. _'I think sensei left me a few recipes...'_

"Are you ready to begin?" Itachi questioned. Naruto nodded. "Then look into my eyes, little one." Naruto did as he was told, and saw them spinning, red, and with three black tomoe upon each. The tomoe elongated and connected to his pupil, creating a three bladed shuriken. "**Tsukuyomi (Moon Reader)**."

* * *

Only snippets of what truly happened did Naruto remember.

Naruto found himself in a world not his own, with a red moon that painted the sky the color of blood, and that was full of black clouds. He also noticed he was strapped to a post, and that Itachi was hilding a katana. The man chuckled for a few seconds. "Sorry, old habits." The world melted back into something similar to his own, with a plain that stetched as far as his eyes could see. _'If it's just this, it might last a week before I must rest...' _

He was still holding a katana, and came running at Naruto at speeds he could just barely follow. The blonde figured out what he intended to do when his eye looked up at his body from the ground, blood spewing from his neck.

The next thing Naruto knew, he was running away from the man, trying desperately to pull a kunai from his weapon pouch. He managed to free his kunai just in time to block a slash, but was too slow to parry several stabs that went straight through his chest like he was made of hot butter.

Next he found himself surrounded by Kage Bunshin, each trying to get the Uchiha Slayer to back away. They yielded poor results, yet one managed to nick him. The cut disappeared as soon as it had came to be, and an entire row was instantly destroyed, the original missing his heart, which Itachi had _oh_ so kindly carved out.

Itachi was moving towards Naruto once again, at about a quarter of his true speed. _'I wonder if he has come to fear me yet...' _He swung his katana, nodded slightly in satisfaction when it was parried away, and most of his barrage of thrusts as well. He still managed another fatal hit, but kept his speed the same. _'He's improving. That much is clear...'_

For what seemed like the hundredth time, he found Itachi running at him. He didn't understand what was happening; how he was alive. He just knew that Itachi was trying to kill him, and he was doing a pretty good job of it.

More and more often, he could see where Itachi would strike and was able to block it, saving him pain and suffering he didn't want to go through. It seemed to be happening more often, but although he could see something, he was unable to see multiple or even a second time in a row. He was moving his kunai to block strikes randomly, and ended up with him gaining lethal wounds nearly every time; that time he was stabbed through his left eye, and it had come out with the blade.

* * *

Kakashi woke up several hours later, his eye shooting open as if he had a nightmare. Sakura, who had been watching him, nearly screamed when she saw it. She had been about to see what was under his mask...

Kakashi put his hand to his normal eye, and leaned his elbow on his knee._ 'There's something... that I overlooked. I have a feeling like...'_ His genin gathered around him.

"What's wrong, sensei?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi looked as though he had seen a ghost, and something that frightened the jōnin was something to worry about, especially after Zabuza nearly killed them all.

"Well... body erasing teams usually dispose of the body right where they strike down their target."

"So what?" Sakura asked.

"It means that Zabuza is most likely still alive," Sasuke said. Sakura and Tazuna were horrified, and Naruto had his own expression of fake fear. He had already known that Zabuza was probably still alive, but had forgotten to tell Kakashi. Although, he didn't really have time before he woke up to speak with him. Everyone on his team needed their rest, especially Kakashi if Zabuza was still alive.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, and what the hunter-nin used to "kill" Zabuza were senbon needles, which have a very low probability of killing someone, unless you know exactly what you're aiming for. Hunter-nin are trained in the body's structure. Putting someone in a death-like state is probably easy for them. First, he carried Zabuza off instead of burning the corpse, and second, he used senbon needles rather than a kunai. We can't ignore the possibility that the hunter-nin saved Zabuza rather than killing him. That means we're goings to prepare before it's too late." He tried to sit up a little more, and noticed a pair of crutches nearby. "Naruto, could you get those for me?"

"Sure thing Kakashi-sensei." Said blonde jumped up and rushed to the crutches and to Kakashi as fast as he could, eager to begin training.

Sakura had a quizzical look on her face. "Kakashi-sensei, what do you mean prepare before it's too late? From what you just did you can't even walk without something to lean on, and what if Zabuza attacks again?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "I won't be the one training, you guys will be. And don't worry about Zabuza. By the time he can pose a threat again I'll be back to normal. Being put into a death-like state has it's downsides." He got help again from Naruto when he tried to stand. "Follow me."

"What's a little training going to do?" She practically yelled. "You even hard a hard time against Zabuza, what can genin like us do?"

"You don't give yourselves enough credit. I'm sure either of you could have accomplished what Naruto did given the right motivation. All you had to do was force Zabuza to move. How hard would that be for you guys?"

_'Apparently pretty damn hard when he makes ten Mizu Bunshin to kill me,' _Naruto thought.

"But," Kakashi said seriously, "it will just be training until I recover. You guys won't be able to beat Zabuza on your own." When he finished speaking this time, a small boy walked into the room.

He had spiky black hair that was mostly covered with a white and blue striped hat. He was wearing a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt underneath. He walked over to Tazuna and hugged him, then pointed at the ninja while looking at Tsunami. "Mom, they're all going to die."

"Inari, don't say such things! They're here to help us," Tsunami said.

The boy shook his head. "They can't win against Gatō."

Naruto took offense to this. "Of course we're going to beat Gatō! If I can't help out this country, then I have no chance of becoming the hero of my village, the Hokage." While he was speaking his rage subsided, only because he was in deep thought._ 'If I can't help this country...'_

"What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as heroes!" The boy turned around, running off.

Tsunami moved to go after him, then apologized on her son's behalf. "I'm sorry about that, he hasn't been the same ever since... Kaiza passed away after defying Gatō." She left the room depressed because of her loss and angry at the man who had taken her husband away from her.

Kakashi glanced at Tazuna, receiving a small nod of the head from the older man. "Kaiza was the closest thing that Inari had for a father. His real father had run off shortly after Tsunami had given birth, and the man had saved Inari's life. He taught the boy many things, stressing above all else to protect the things that were precious to him. He married Tsunami, and was a wonderful man. He tried to stop Gato's take over of the Land of Waves and was used as an example by Gatō..."

Kakashi looked down, hearing stories like this far too often. A good man, killed after he stood up for what was right. He sighed. "Follow me, you can feel bad later. For now, we have to train while there's still light."

* * *

He had been sick of running. He figured out that no matter what he did he would die, so he had stood his ground and focused on Itachi. More frequently had he been able to track him that way, and it got to the point that he was able to fend the man off for several seconds. At that point, he backed off and came at him from another angle, slaying him almost immediately. Slaying a Kage Bunshin. Naruto however came at him from behind and managed to stab him in the back.

Itachi grunted.

He reappeared behind Naruto, but Naruto had held him off for another few seconds. Itachi held up his blade when he backed off, and walked towards him again, this time with a look of approval written on his face._ 'Four hours of immense strain on his eyes to see me, and his Sharingan has come to life. Why didn't Madara Uchiha use this technique to make his clan more powerful?' _Itachi flashed behind Naruto and hit him with the pommel of his sword, knocking him out. _'I hope that's all it will take to send him to his Bijū.'_

* * *

_*Drip*_

_*Drip*_

_*Drip*_

When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw a yellowish wall that stretched upwards until it was engulfed in shadows. He felt that he was laying in water, possibly two or three inches. His head felt like someone had nailed something to the back of it then ripped it out.

He made his way to his feet, wondering if he was still in the realm created by Itachi when he stood and was dry. He frowned, finding himself in a large room, wondering why there was a gigantic... cage...

His eyebrows shot into his hair.

Naruto felt he should run, but at the same time felt an overwhelming desire to meet the beast that could level mountains, and had almost destroyed Konoha. Besides, what if the tailed beasts were simply misunderstood creatures?

Naruto took a step towards the cage, then another. It wasn't very far away, but he knew that he had to be cautious. The cage wasn't exactly made of close bars; he could walk abreast with someone and pass through. Sure enough, when he got within what the Kyūbi thought was striking distance, four claws burst from in-between the bars, stopping only a few inches from his face.

His head told him to take a step back, but he felt that he was completely safe in this place. He heard laughing from behind him, and turned to see someone who he thought he would never see again. His sensei, with his usual black hair of fire was smiling at him. He heard a growl. "**This is my jailor? The jailor of the mighty Kyūbi no Kitsune?**"

"The only thing mighty about you is your size. Take that from you and you can be slain very easily." The Kyūbi growled, and his sensei grinned. "But, to answer your question, yes. Kurama, this is Naruto Uzumaki, future Rokudaime of Konohagakure." A real smile formed on Naruto's face, and it only increased when Shisui appeared infront of him with his hand on his head. "I think you should finally know that my name is Shisui Uchiha, and I will answer any and all questions you ask to the best of my ability."

Naruto nodded, and asked, "Where are we? Why are you here? Why did you just leave me to fend for myself? Why is Itachi training me? Why did he send me in here? Why could I see Itachi's chakra before he knocked me out?" Naruto thought for a moment, deciding those questions would first need to he answered before he could ask more.

Shisui took a step or two back, and crossed his arms, drumming his fingers. "We're in your mind. I'm here because Kurama created me using my memories upon my request. I left you because I died. Itachi is training you because of my request. And, you were able to see Itachi's chakra because of a gift I have you before I died. I implanted my eyes, giving you the sharingan. All you had to do was reactivate it."

Naruto's eyes were wide and his brows were high. "You implanted your eyes into me! Why?" He wasn't angry, he was curious. Extremely so. His sensei's eyes had been black, yet his were blue. He looked down at the water he was standing in, and saw blue staring back at him.

"I did it because you needed the help. Your life will be full of life and death circumstances until the threat of Akatsuki and Orochimaru is put to an end. I'm sorry for not asking you, but I don't know if you would have even understood the seriousness of the decision." He sighed, his eyes meeting blue ones. "If you had said no, then even more dangerous people than Akatsuki would have gotten their hands on my eyes, as they have the ability to cast the most powerful genjutsu in existence."

Naruto nodded, knowing he wasn't lying. "Now, we could continue your training. I seem to remember someone blanking most of your scroll. You were only able to learn two of the dozens of jutsu I put in there, but I can teach you now. You learned the Kage Bunshin well enough, but you had trouble with my specialty." Naruto smiled, knowing his sensei was going to try to make him the best shinobi there has ever been.

* * *

After about half an hour of walking with his crutches, Kakashi finally found a set of three tall and sturdy trees. He turned back to the three that were following him, each with their own emotions showing. Sakura's eyes were looking to the Uchiha, and she seemed to be fighting an urge to do something; most likely lick her lips. Sasuke wore an expression of puzzlement, probably unsure of what was to come.

Naruto's was the most out of character for the three. The blonde boy looked sad; like he could cry at any time. For Tazuna's grandson no doubt, but looking at his face, full of sorrow... His eyes were downcast, looking at the ground only a few feet behind him so he could see the other's feet. They appeared to be wetter than they should, evidence of the almost guaranteed waterworks. His hands were just hanging down at his sides limply rather than their usual spot on the back of his head while walking. His feet seemed to lag behind him rather than move; like they weren't used to being on the back burner in his mind.

Kakashi looked at him with concern evident on what was revealed of his face. _'Surely it can't be from Inari. A life of ignoring what others told him he couldn't do. Proving them all wrong by actually becoming a shinobi, a damn good one that could have been even better had his instructors taught him anything... I need to teach him more jutsu than the Kage Bunshin, spamming clones won't get him anywhere unless he has the speed and strength of Gai. Maybe that'll cheer him up. Maybe I _could_ get Gai to help his taijutsu.' _

"Sensei?"

"Hmm?" He noises. "Oh, right," he said after coming out of his thoughts. "What you'll be doing is super-hard training that some of even the best shinobi can't do. If you start to waver, you could end up getting yourself killed. This will be such an extreme chakra control technique that mastering it would be more important than learning jutsu."

Sasuke and Sakura were on the edge, wondering what a technique of such necessity, that they hadn't even heard of, was. Naruto was squatting nearby, drawing in the dirt with a kunai with a cloud over his head. Kakashi suppressed a sigh. "What are we going to be doing, Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Tree climbing."

Sakura and Sasuke fell flat on their faces; to say they were surprised was an understatement of epic proportions.

After picking themselves up, Kakashi demonstrated for the two. He walked up the tree slowly, coming to a branch and standing upside down after walking it. "This is only possible when you apply just the right amount of chakra. If you apply too much, you'll push yourself away from the tree. If you use too little, you'll fall off. Doing this incorrectly could get you killed, and not knowing how to do it will put you at a disadvantage you can't afford. The only way to learn how is to just go at it, because it's different for everybody, and even if it were the same, I wouldn't be able to explain how much chakra you'd need.

"I suggest a running start." He threw three kunai down to each of them, gaining another puzzled look. "Use those to track your progress. Each time you fall off, slash the tree, then try to get higher than your last mark."

Sasuke and Sakura both picked up the kunai and sprinted towards a tree, Sasuke getting about five feet up before he fell off. Sakura made it about twenty-five feet up, and when she fell she was flailing about. After getting over his shock at how much better Sakura had done, he leapt up and caught her, earning a arm look from Sakura. _'Falling off the tree on purpose to get Sasuke to catch me... A perfect plan.' _

Naruto looked down at the kunai Kakashi had thrown him and grumbled something about needing to do something more important. He started to walk up the tree, passed Kakashi's branch, and continued climbing upwards. He got all the way to the tip of the tree, hacked off about a foot of it, then walked back down, handing both the kunai and the piece of wood to Kakashi on his way. All three were staring at him with large eyes, unable to fully comprehend what they had seen.

It even took Kakashi a minute to realize he had already been taught tree climbing, and another to climb down to congratulate his student. Sasuke was there first, asking him countless questions that Naruto neglected to respond to. Instead, he asked Sasuke a question in turn. He asked, "What _is_ chakra? Answer that question thoroughly and you'll have a better understanding of how to do this." He laughed inwardly, knowing that Sasuke would search for the textbook answer, but not the one he really needed.

Sakura stepped forward and gave him a textbook response; something he wasn't looking for. She said, "Chakra is a combination of the spirit and the body. You gain spiritual energy through meditation and other such things that put stress on the mind, whereas the energy from the body is increased through exercising and other activities that puts physical stress on someone." She stuck her tongue out at Naruto.

Naruto sighed before mumbling, "wrong answer." Only Kakashi heard him, and Sasuke lost interest in him after seeing he had no advice to give. Sakura followed Sasuke, leaving their sensei with his blonde student.

"I guess your other sensei knows a thing or two," he said while sporting a smile. "By the way, what's the right answer if the one Sakura gave was wrong?" Kakashi could not think of another way to interpret the question 'What is chakra?' other than the way his other students had, and was interested in what he had to say.

"To me, chakra is something that is used as a tool to accomplish a goal. If you harness it correctly, you will succeed. If you do not, you will fail." He began to walk away. "When you understand what you're trying to accomplish, it is much easier to reach that thing. Sure it's made up of both body and spiritual energy, but what use is it to know what it's made of if you don't understand how to harness it when you seem to have no more?" The Kage Bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke, and while Kakashi was contemplating how to respond, another one appeared. "It's been about ten minutes, so how do you want to answer my question?"

_'Question? When did he ask me... oh! What use is it to know what it's composed of when you run out and can't get anymore.'_ He opened his mouth, and Naruto interrupted him.

"And I don't mean my special case. I've done what I said without him."

"Well, I suppose it is no use at all. How do you gather chakra when your body has none left to offer?"

"Your body will always have energy to offer until you die. Most people only use the energy from their muscle cells, which is why they think body energy is directly related to physical activity. Most don't access the chakra that can be harnessed from their skin, or their bones. It is certainly not as much as what is taken from your muscle cells, but it is most definitely useful in a life or death situation. Eating the right food will also help you build body energy, but your body can only absorb so much of it at a time." Naruto sat down and looked up at his sensei, waiting for a response.

All he heard was silence.

* * *

Kakashi was walking around the bridge, reading his orange book of smut while at the same time keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He sighed when he noticed the mist had noticeably thickened over a span of an hour. He called over his squad, and before he could speak, both Naruto and Sasuke mumbled something about the mist. He smiled underneath his mask. "Be on your guard you three, we could be attacked at any moment." They nodded and each went back to their respective posts, with Kakashi wandering with his eye on everything.

After another five minutes, one of the workers was found on the ground with bruises all over. While they were inspecting him, the rest of the workers gained similar injury. Kakashi signaled for the trio to surround Tazuna.

_'Fūton: Daitoppa.' _Kakashi thought.

"Well, well," came a whisper from seemingly all around. "I'll be killing that brat this time." As he said the word brat, a sword sprouted from Naruto's chest. He was surprised to say the least, especially when he reached out with a shaking hand and nicked Zabuza with his nails. "Any last words, brat?" Zabuza asked with a wicked grin.

"**Fūton... Renkūdan (Drilling Air Bullet)**." Was all he could squeak out before he disappeared in a puff on smoke. Not half a second later did Zabuza get thrown across the bridge, clutching his left arm in pain. One Naruto Uzumaki replaced his clone, grinning like a fool. "Got him!" The original said in a forceful yet quiet whisper. Kakashi walked up to Naruto and cut his hand, watching it heal a few seconds later.

"Good to have you back," Kakashi said with his signature eye smile. "I'll handle Zabuza. You and Sasuke focus on the hunter-nin. Leave a couple Kage Bunshin to help guard Tazuna if you would, please." He saw Naruto nod, and did as was instructed. He didn't use the normal seal for Kage Bunshin however, but two solid clones popped into existence anyways, so he thought nothing of it.

Naruto and Sasuke dashed after the masked shinobi, both focusing chakra in their legs to quicken themselves. Naruto went to the right, while Sasuke went to the left and flanked him. Unfortunately, the masked shinobi wasn't going to just stand still and let them do as they pleased. Water began pouring in from the sides of the bridge, and smacked the two boys close together. The next instant, a dome formed around the two made of at least forty mirrors of ice. Each mirror had the image of the boy in it. "**Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Ice Mirrors)**. Now that speed you two were so eager to use will be useless."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, and saw he was already weaving the necessary handseals. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" From his mouth erupted a massive fireball aimed at the nearest mirror. It melted, but only for a second and only around the edges. Both genin cursed, knowing it would be hard to escape, and that the ice must be extremely cold to not melt against fire. Naruto moved to break the ice with a kick, but was slammed back to the ground when he moved a few feet.

He got back up, simply not expecting it to have happened, but was forced to hold his ground when hundreds of senbon started shooting at them from all directions. Most were blocked, but the ones that weren't went in deep.

After that, Naruto grunted and made twenty-four Kage Bunshin, each jumping a different direction after channeling chakra into their legs. Most were dispelled, but the original and two more made it to the outside. The boy turned after them, but the original was ready this time, and his eyes were red with three tomoe instead of blue. He took out his Chakra Blades and swatted the boy down with two five foot long ones. _'Damn he's fast. Almost as fast as Itachi holding back.'_

He saw the boy make a clone that went back to the mirrors, and prepared to attack him with senbon once more. He threw sixty in under a second, but to Naruto they might as well have been passing through water rather than air. He lengthened his Chakra Blades slightly, and began knocking two or three away with each flick of his wrist, but the masked kid kept throwing more and more. He didn't even know where he was getting all of them, but persisted until he decided to stop throwing as it wasn't working.

Sasuke on the other hand was having much more trouble. The Uchiha could barely keep up with his enemy, and every time he tried to move he was stopped by several senbon. His eyes were adjusting though. Each time he jumped between mirrors Sasuke was seeing a more definite shape of the masked man. _'Soon...' _he thought with a triumphant smile on the inside.

Naruto and Haku stared each other down. The masked boy had stopped his assault because he knew it was futile, and Naruto refused to attack him because he couldn't figure out why he would be helping a person like Zabuza. So he asked, "Who are you and why are you helping that missing-nin?"

The mask was moved out of place for a few moments before he responded. "My name is Haku. Zabuza-sama took me in when no others would. Do I need more reason to help him?"

"Uh, yeah? He's a killer! Sure you should be happy about him showing you kind was when there wasn't another to offer it, but does that mean you should help him in doing tsense terrible things?"

"Do not speak of Zabuza-sama like that!"

"The Zabuza I know tried to kill me. _Twice._ I didn't even do anything to him the first time!" After that, Naruto sheathed his Chakra Blades and charged Haku, throwing kunai at him. In the end, a rough circle was formed around Haku. "**Raiton: Denkai (Electric Field)**!" After he finished the handseals, he held the final. Lightning shot from the closest kunai, connecting to all the others and creating a dome. "If you move, I'll kill you."

The way he said those three words, Haku knew he wasn't bluffing. He had seen the blonde use jutsu after jutsu so far, each being more dangerous than the last. He hadn't heard the blonde as serious either, his voice being completely flat. Haku nodded, and held his ground. "Why do you go so far? Why did you learn such dangerous techniques? Is it because of someone precious to you?"

Naruto sighed, not knowing the reason himself. The village he wanted to lead had shunned him from a young age, the only precious people he had were dead or soon to be. He put on a poker face though. "I go so far because I want to be recognized by everyone in my village for my accomplishments. I go so far because there are people who are unable to protect themselves. I go so far because when someone who is truly precious to me comes along, I want to be able to protect them with my life.

"There is no such thing as a dangerous technique. There is just a dangerous wielder of it. If that wasn't the case, there would be no war criminals. There would be no reason to punish out of line shinobi such as Zabuza." Haku opened his mouth to protest, but Naruto cut him off. "Shove it. I don't care what you say, Zabuza is a criminal that needs to be punished for his treasonous actions against his country. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be in the bingo book."

_'Naruto, if you don't finish him now his clone is going to kill Sasuke,' _came Shisui's voice.

_'Sasuke can't be having _that_ much trouble, could he?'_

_'Sasuke doesn't have his sharingan yet. It's incredibly hard to dodge fast moving and small objects like senbon for fresh out of the academy students that haven't seen battle before. How long did it take you to beat back Itachi? Was it about four hours? Yes. And he was fairly large. How many times did you die in that time? Hundreds? Yes. Those senbon are going about the same speed, if not faster. _You_ try dodging them without your sharingan.'_

_**'Kit, Shisui is right. Go kill the clone,'** _came the deep voice of Kurama.

"Fine," Naruto said aloud. He went through a few more handseals, mumbling under his breath, "**Raiton: Denki Bakuha (Electric Explosion)**." The electric field around Haku slowly closed in on the ground and he was forced with it, screaming in agony. The lightning built and shocked and numbed and to Haku it felt like he was being torn apart from the inside out where the lightning danced around his body. Eventually it built to such levels that it outright exploded, sending Haku into one of his ice mirrors and clear through it.

Without Haku sustaining it, the mirrors began falling and crashing down to the bridge, and Sasuke dodged each without looking, grinning like a fool. Naruto, his sharingan disabled, looked into Sasuke's eyes and saw why. There were now three people on their team that had the sharingan.

Naruto had subdued the real Haku, Sasuke had awoken his sharingan, and Kakashi was battling Zabuza. Of the three of them, Kakashi was having the hardest time. He was still affected from overusing the sharingan, and because of that was still slower than normal. Zabuza appeared to be back to one hundred percent, and was swinging his giant sword around, but was grunting in pain each time he moved his left arm. Kakashi was having a tough time parrying every thrust and slash, but managed to push the man back. Thankfully, even though Zabuza's strength was superior, Kakashi's speed was in a whole different class, even at eighty percent.

When Zabuza went for a slash, Naruto found himself going in to block it for his sensei. He was surprised when the massive sword went straight through the chakra of his weapon, but caught the blow with the blade in his left hand. "You!" Zabuza roared.

"Naruto! What are you doing!" Kakashi shouted.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, he's got it," came the whisper of a clone. "He's holding off Zabuza so you have time for a jutsu to beat him. He thinks you're holding back an ace still. I think he can last about a minute at best. Is that enough?"

"That's plenty." Kakashi flew through handseals as fast as he dared. When he was done, he gripped his forearm just under his wrist to steady his right hand, as the lightning chakra was so intense his right arm wouldn't have been able to stay still. Instead, it would have whipped about back and forth. So intense was the lightning that it was tinged blue, and crackling wildly. He charged right towards Zabuza at blinding speeds, shouting "**Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)**!" Naruto was covered in blood, and was lucky Kakashi had stopped when he did. His hand was a few inches away from his head. Zabuza however, was not so lucky.

He was being held up by Kakashi's forearm and was down a functioning heart.

Soon after, Gatō showed up. Naruto decided to kill him after he said that Haku and Zabuza were worthless tools. The main thing that pissed him off was how he said that Nami no Kuni was a worthless country and he was going to exploit it until all the people that lived there were dead. They left for Konoha after a few days, and Naruto replaced himself with an incredibly sturdy Kage Bunshin. It could take about twenty hits and would last until it was destroyed because it was reinforced with a seal that Shisui showed him.

The real Naruto left for a month long training trip in the Forty-Fourth Training Ground.

* * *

**New Jutsu List**

**Kunai/Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone K****unai/Shuriken **Technique) Offensive. A-Rank (Ninjutsu) All Ranges. - The user creates a set amount of Kage Bunshin of a tool, the amount being determined by the amount of chakra used. To be able to make exact numbers would mean the chakra control of the user is near perfect. The technique's true power comes from a close range attack, where the user creates hundreds or thousands of the tool, making it near impossible to avoid taking damage.

******Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique) Supplementary. A-Rank (Ninjutsu) Short Range. - The user must have extreme control over chakra to perform this technique. The skills used chakra to directly energize the affected area to increase the speed of reactions that occur. It allows surgery directly on the battlefield within minutes without the need of cutting open the target, and finishing at a much faster rate. It burns chakra at an extremely fast rate, and does not work on completely detached parts. **

**Tsukuyomi (Moon Reader) S-Rank (Genjutsu) All Ranges. - The user must make eye contact to perform this jutsu. Tsukuyomi can do many things, yet will always distort time if done properly. Itachi Uchiha has gotten three seconds to appear as three days to the target, torturing their mind by stabbing them over the span of the seventy-two hours. The technique could also read a person's fears and make those fears a reality for the target, horrifying them beyond words or actions. It creates a dream world in which anything is possible for the user, unless the target also has the ability to use Tsukuyomi. If such a case arises, they would simply be battling with their minds, the loser being mentally incapacitated rather than killed.**

**Fūton: Renkūdan (Drilling Air Bullet) Offensive. B-Rank (Ninjutsu) - All Ranges. The user gathers Wind Chakra in his or her lungs and shoots a six foot diameter sphere at a target. It deflects most everything in its path, and upon reaching its target it explodes due to the high amount of chakra inside of it. It is slow moving up close, but as it travels it picks up speed.**

******Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Ice Mirrors) Offensive. A-Rank (Ninjutsu) - Short to Mid Range. The user instantaneously creates a dome of twenty-one ice mirrors that surround the target, reflecting nothing but the user. Once the user has entered the mirrors, it is nearly impossible for him to be tracked. Without eyes like the sharingan, it would be. While the technique is in use, it is impossible to see all of the attacks launched from their positions in the mirrors, as if one of the twenty-one attacks, the other twenty do as well. **

**********Raiton: Denkai (Electric Field) Offensive. C-Rank (Ninjutsu) - Short Range. The user surrounds his target with kunai, missing in such a way that it looks like he's trying to hit them. He then fills his feet with Lightning Chakra, channeling it to the kunai. Upon reaching one of them, it will flare up and connect with the rest, creating a dome-shaped net. If the target is caught, they will have to receive fairly serious shocking damage to escape. **

**********Raiton: Denki Bakuha (Electric Explosion) Offensive. B-Rank (Ninjutsu) - Short Range. After catching the target inside Raiton: Denki, the user builds the Lightning Chakra without restricting its movement, jumping around the kunai wildly instead of in the net. It will eventually burst and fry the surrounding area. **

**********Raikiri (Lightning Cutter) Offensive. S-Rank (Ninjutsu) - Short Range. The user channels Lightning Chakra to his hand, so much that it become visible. It starts out white, but as he condenses the chakra (turning it from a Chidori to a Raikiri) it gains a blue outline for both the Lightning Chakra he holds as well as the Lightning leaping off the ball. It is capable to pierce solid rock. **

* * *

**From chapter four on, it's canon every once in a long while, but not twenty four seven. Yes, there will still be the people and big picture of the plot from canon, but I will try my best to make those the only similarities. Enough of this depressing subject...**

**I hope a lot more people were drawn in this time around, so leave your mark by giving me a review. It really does help, because this is the way I look at it. **

**1.) More reviews equals more people being drawn in. **

**2.) More people being drawn in equals more reviews (theoretically). **

**3.) More reviews equals a happier author. **

**4.) A happier author equals writing better. **

**5.) And finally, when the writing gets better, you the reader get happier. **

**Fairly simple, right? You know how far I've gotten? I'm still at square one. **

**If you could leave me a review, that would be wonderful. If it was a question, that would be awesome. If you could leave a review, ask a question, _and_ give constructive criticism? You would be part of an extremely small group on this site.**

**I know things are a bit rushed, and I'm going to slow down after I get the hell out of Wave. It's a terrible place for me to write; I can hardly change anything the way I have it set up. **

**Until next time,**

**-Tipsy**


	4. Chakra Training

**Hey guys!**

**Some of you may be thinking, back so soon? And why did it take so long to edit two chapters? The truth is, I had exams and didn't have the motivation to continue my story. But now I do! That means updates are going to be completely random!**

**As for your questions, so far someone has asked if it was going to be a harem and a strictly Naruto/Samui pairing, because I have no intention of letting a harem get between Naruto and his woman!**

**For those of you who have read the Author's Notes, thanks! For those of you who do and still don't review, screw you guys! For those of you that skip over the Author's Notes completely, I can tell you guys that I fucking hate you because you'll never read this!**

**Now, while some of you may think I'm rude and others may be chuckling, I have an excuse. It's 2:17 A.M. and I can't fall asleep!**

**Anyways, down to business. For those of you that are reading this, why won't you leave a review? There are over 100 people that have favorites this story so far. That means I should have 400 reviews. Why don't I? ****If I could answer that, I wouldn't be angry about not getting reviews!**

**Hell, I don't care if you do it right now! Just scroll to the bottom of the page and make something up. In fact, do that for all of the chapters I have. If you tell me to work on my grammar, I swear I will hunt you down and kill you. I already know that I have near perfect grammar, better than most everyone else on this site. So if you tell me to work on it, there won't be anything _to_ work on. The only thing I might flub every once in awhile involves dialogue because I don't write it often and everyday.**

**(4:06 P.M.)**

**FireBallOfAmaterasu: Because of Naruto's need to reawaken the sharingan, does this mean that Naruto has to awaken and pay the price of the Mangekyō?**

**No. Naruto has access to the Mangekyō at whatever point he finds out about it, and will not have to kill his best friend.**

**I'm sorry penguinrocks, I can't answer your question any more than he will evolve past the sharingan. Any more and I would be givin major spoilers, as that is already a stretch.**

**Fred872: Why pair Naruto with Samui?**

**To that, I ask another question. Why pair Sasuke with Sakura? They're opposite (in canon) in almost every regard, but the kind of Naruto I plan on mine becoming will fit quite nicely with Samui. He won't be emotionless, but he would be that loud and annoying ninja he was before Jiraiya died.**

**Guest: Why was Naruto complaining about Zabuza being a killer, when it's a ninja's job?**

**While it is true that a ninja may have to kill at sime point or another, that is not what Zabuza did. Zabuza murdered scores of people that did not deserve to die, hence he was a murderer. As for your other queation, H****aku did not die. After finding his only precious person dead, Haku left to return to his homeland. **

* * *

After a long day, the blonde woke from peaceful slumber to do what needed to be done so early. Slowly sliding from the bed, the wooden floor creaked slightly under the shift of weight. Still moving sluggishly because of the harsh training that had recently begun, it took longer than usual to get ready. After a warm shower that helped with aching muscles, a simple breakfast was made. Dressing in gray, the cerulean-eyed teen left the small apartment, seeking out the team that would hopefully be waiting.

A sigh was loosed when not a soul was found.

Something the teen had learned a few years ago was that very few shinobi have the ability to wait and act rationally before jumping into battle. Most have no plan, and dive in without first knowing their opponents level of skill, which could prove fatal. So, taking that knowledge to heart, more than one thing was learned. Patience was high on the list, but not the most important. That was reserved for the ability to safely find the limits of an opponent. To do so was crucial, especially when on a mission of doing something important.

Waiting was not an issue, but the blonde was happy that it wasn't for a long time. A boy and a girl were walking up, hand in hand. A few months prior, the boy had confessed his feelings for her, and it happened that she felt the same way. She constantly hit the boy for his nonsense ramblings, but it was clear that both of them had feelings for each other. Only time would tell if these feelings would blossom into something more, and time was very much available.

The girl, with dark-skin, amber eyes and long bushy red hair, raised an arm in greeting. She wore her hitai-ate as a bandanna, with simple golden earrings and a greenish-gray sleevless dress with the edges frilled. She wore black boots to complete the ensemble.

The boy was dressed in colors very similar to the girl, his hitai-ate tied in the standard style and place, wearing a gray hoodie and black pants. He was also dark-skinned, and had very light hair, almost white. He, along with the girl, had a sword strapped to his back, and he had a lollipop in his mouth.

"Hello, Samui-san!" The girl shouted. The boy also nodded towards her, but seemed content with his girlfriend and did not look at the early bloomer for more than a second. Samui said, "Karui-san; Omoi-san," while nodding to both of them in turn, the girl first then the boy.

Samui herself was a bit of an oddity in her village. Very few fair-skinned people populate Kumogakure, and even fewer become ninja. She had blonde hair that was cut in a flat asymmetrical bob, with blue eyes that seemed to be cold, but were really calculating. She wore a gray shirt with a long v-neck that was fairly tight on her body, with large sleeves that stopped a bit short of her elbows. From there, she wore red hand guards on her forearms, and wore a short black skirt matching her black boots. She also wore a mesh shirt that covered what of her breasts the shirt revealed, if only slightly. Overall, her outfit was designed to distract men who were too stupid to look past her as being a woman.

Omoi looked Samui in the eyes, seemingly careful to not to look anywhere else, asking, "No sign of Bee-sensei?" Samui shook her head. "Maybe he got abducted and-" Before he could really start, Karui smacked him on the head. He looked back at Karui, smiling. "Thank you. He's probably just running a little late."

Three hours, to be exact.

* * *

The other blonde was having his own problem at the same time.

The techniques that Naruto had used in Nami no Kuni were copied by the sharingan. They were merely one tenth of the power that they should have been. The Drilling Air Bullet should have torn Zabuza's arm off with the way it had struck, and his Electric Explosion should have fried Haku to a black crisp with as much chakra as he put in. Naruto knew from Itachi giving him Elemental Paper that he had an affinity for Wind and Lightning, but they did not have the time to teach him to control either. Itachi left shortly after Naruto had let him speak with Shisui, which turned out to be for the best as Itachi had joined Akatsuki.

Thus brings us to what the blonde protagonist was not up to. He had five hundred clones working on cutting leaves, and five hundred more working on wrinkling them. This left the original to himself, and he wears working on chakra control. He was meditating near a river, holding three leaves in front of him with nothing but his chakra, trying desperately to hold them still. So far he had only managed to keep all three still for a maximum of five minutes, having neglected the exercise. Senseless to say, Shisui was of happy with him.

Kurama was having a wonderful time mocking him though.

_'Naruto, the reason I stressed chakra control four years ago was because you had half as much then as you do now! No wonder your control is terrible, you have more chakra than a Kage,' _Shisui scolded.

Naruto growled. "How was I supposed to know I had more chakra than my entire class together before Mizuki-teme blurted it out two years back?" He lost his concentration, crossing his arms. "What's chakra control good for anyways? After the academy jutsu, what do I need it for? You said yourself I have more chakra than anyone. So why do I need better control?"

**_'_**_**Kit, you need control. End of story.'**_

_'Thank you, Kurama. Though it didn't help much I know you were trying,' _Naruto heard the Uchiha sigh._ 'You need control because every little bit of chakra that you can save will in turn save yourself one day. You might not think it now, but someday a fight _will_ come down to the final dregs of your chakra, and if you don't have good enough control, you won't have any left, and you will die.'_

"Fine. I get it. Chakra control good. Death bad. There has to be a quicker way to do it than floating leaves though."

_'Well... it's quicker, but...'_

"What is it, Shisui-sensei?" If there was a way to speed up this process, Naruto was going to take it.

_'What I've been teaching you with the leaves is actually a much easier version than the actual. What you should be doing is putting a leaf on your head and focusing your chakra to keep it there. Go to the the end of the river. Their should be a waterfall, and the water should be a bit more calm there.'_ Naruto did as instructed, and was then told to gather nine leaves. He was told to strip, much to his embarrassment, but did as he was told.

Shisui had then had him to walk to the middle of the water, and to place a leaf on his forehead, on the back of his hands, on the palm of his hands, the top of his feet, and on the outside of his calves. After telling him where to place the leaves, Naruto began to set them, one by one. He couldn't keep his balance on the water while concentrating on just that single leaf one his forehead, and was freezing a moment later.

He popped his head up, gasping for breath. He heard Kurama laughing and Shisui sighing._ 'As I said... this is quicker but twenty times harder.'_

* * *

After Killer Bee had shown up rapping about how he had to help a pregnant woman give birth, which his students didn't believe, he took them to the Raikage. A was a very busy man, and recently he was even more fed up with work than usual. He was working on the finishing touches on another treaty with Konoha.

They had been going back and forth for months, and it was finally coming down to a trip to the other village to sign the documents. The Hokage could not leave his own village because of the upcoming chunin exams, but that only gave the Raikage an excuse to see what the chunin hopefuls could do. He could even send in a few of his own genin to compete.

His brother ha-

"Yo!" Someone shouted while almost taking the door down.

-d been given his own team...

None other than his loud and somewhat annoying adoptive brother and his team barbed into his office, though his genin were looking rather reluctant. The blonde did not look upset, neither angry nor happy. She seemed... Indifferent. It was unnerving how uncaring she appeared to be. He could not dwell on that however, for his idiotic brother needed dealing with.

"Bee!" The Raikage roared, lunging at him. Bee could not dodge, and his brother smacked him on the head. "I'm busy right now! What could you possibly want that's more important than finalizing the treaty with Konoha!?"

"Helpin' you out, without a doubt!" A smacked him again, growling about his rapping.

"And how could you help?" Bee opened his mouth and the Raikage shook his fist, making his brother frown. "Rap again and I'll put you through a wall," the Raikage said in his booming voice. "This is too important, especially after what happened last time."

"Okay, fine." He took a deep breath, and began. "As a show of good faith, I say that you allow me to enter my team in the upcoming Konoha chunin exams. That will give you an excuse to go and watch them, because honestly, my team is far past the level of genin." At that, his team exchanged looks, or rather, Omoi and Karui did. Samui didn't seem surprised at the news; they had been doing C-Rank and even a couple of the easier B-Rank missions. Of course they were ready for promotion. "Also, I think it would be extremely funny to watch the team smack down on some poor little kids."

A allowed a smirk to grace his face for a second, before putting his business face back on. He nodded, not bothering to say that he had been thinking of doing the exact same thing, regardless of if his brother had been thinking along similar lines. He nodded, and sent them back out of the office, requesting the blonde to send in his secretary because he knew Bee would just hit on her. She bowed, and did as requested at lightning quick speeds, for someone classified as a genin at least.

* * *

A week later, Naruto was able to keep the leaf on his forehead, as well as on the back of his hands. He could stay on the water that way for only about a minute, but it was progress nonetheless. It's hard to concentrate your chakra from five points and concentrate evenly on all of them. If he pushed too much, he would blow the leaves off of his body instead of keeping them there, and he would lose his balance. He didn't like losing his balance.

It was cold.

After each training session, Naruto felt like he hadn't slept in days, and after his clones dispelled it felt like weeks. He was making progress though. He could now successfully split and wrinkle leaves. It didn't yet come naturally though, so Shisui had set him to other training methods. For wind, he was to cut the waterfall in half. It would help him train his nature, and it would double as chakra control.

For lightning, he was trying to manipulate it to the extent that he could see it coming off of the water. Those clones were supposed to stand on the hands on the water and try to make their element visible. It ended up in shocking a lot of them, but it was also doubling as a concentration exercise. Shisui said that the sooner he mastered controlling the two elements, the sooner he would teach him more jutsu and the sooner Kurama would give him a gift.

Not knowing what the fox would give him, and the possibilities being endless, he set out with newfound vigor and determination. It could be a new jutsu, some long lost information that would help him in the long run, perhaps that a fruit in a distant country would give him a longer life. It could be the key to success, it could be advice, it could be some weapon that was long forgotten. The possibilities really were endless, even if he was only focusing on the more combat-based things.

While his clones were working on Elemental Manipulation, he was meditating. He wanted to be able to come to his mind at all times. He wanted to be dreaming and be able to go into his mind. He was also excited, because his sensei told him his taijutsu was atrocious and he was going to work on it with him!

When Naruto did find himself in the sewer-like thing that was his mind, he drained out the water and lit it with torches. Nodding to himself at the change, he walked to where he knew the fox and Shisui were waiting.

"So nice of you to join us," his sensei said as he was entering the massive room. With the water drained out of his mind, he felt very clear, almost more focused. On the ground he could see there was one massive dot in the middle of the room, half on his side and half on Kurama's. There were dozens of concentric circles around the floor, but it didn't matter. Shisui whispered something in his ear and Naruto nodded, changing everything.

They were now inside a dojo with half of it still dedicated to keeping the fox at bay. The floor was now made of wooden planks of varying length, no two pieces the same. After another request from Shisui, there was a twenty foot diameter circle right in the middle, shown by glowing white paint. "Step into the circle. Each time you lose concentration I will knock you out of it, and you'll be doing a workout instead of learning the taijutsu you desperately need.

Naruto nodded, and saw him make a Kage Bunshin. Shisui started off with a basic punch, and his clone did a basic block. Shisui had pulled his right arm back, planting his right foot before using it to push off of in a lunge. It gave the basic punch more power and speed, which made it harder to block. He repeated the motion several times, and when Naruto was able perform it flawlessly he moved on. Next, Shisui shifted all his weight to his left leg and brought his right around with a kick. After several demonstrations, he made Naruto do it twenty times.

When Shisui was satisfied, he combined the two. He pushed off his right leg and brought his right fist around for a punch, then landed with his left and used his momentum to being his right leg around.

For five more times, the process of him teaching a few techniques then showing a way to combine them was repeated. At that point, Naruto was knocked out of the ring, and out of his mind._ 'Pick a number, from one to ten,' _Shisui said. Naruto groaned, not liking where he felt this was heading.

"Two," Narito grumbled. He had been paying attention. He had just been thinking about something else for a few moments, then felt himself on the grass. Shisui had just been repeating the technique for the tenth time anyways...

_'I want you to climb the closest tree with nothing but your hands.'_

Naruto looked around after replying. The closest tree happened to be directly behind him. Looking up, he groaned when he saw that there were no branches for hundreds of feet, and even when he saw that branch he saw that it was much too big to grip and pull. That meant the entire tree had to he climbed using chakra. Naruto sighed, ready for an hour of frustration.

What he got was three.

He groaned, pulling himself back into his mind. He wasn't exactly tired... He was more sick of moving than anything. When he saw his sensei, he blanched when he told him to demonstrate all the combinations he had learned up to that point. He screwed one up, and Shisui corrected it, but he was still kicked back out of his mind. This time he picked eight. Shisui made him run one hundred laps around the forest he was in, on only one leg and switching legs each lap. So really, he had to _jump_ one hundred laps without tripping or falling, else he was forced to start over.

He spent the entire time engraving the techniques into his mind, and when he got back into his mind, he stayed there until Shisui told him he needed sleep. In the morning, he was taught another forty techniques, totaling about ninety. He repeated them, one by one, for the next three days before Shisui allowed him to actually spar. That lasted for another three days, because at that time he was able to cut a waterfall in half and electrocute water.

Kurama would not tell him what he was after, merely that he would need to go to the Land of Lightning. If he was lucky, he would be back in six days.

* * *

For the past seventeen days straight, Samui's team was doing various things to further prepare themselves for the chunin exams. The most recent, were exercises in communication without using words. The team thought very much alike, and usually only needed to see Samui point to understand what she wanted them to do.

Knowing her, they would be doing reconnaissance first, then attacking second if they could do so without getting injured. If she decided it would be risky, she would hold up her hand, and they would wait until the target was in a better place for an ambush. They were like a well-oiled machine, and no ordinary potential chunin team could throw a monkey wrench that could slow them.

It would normally take a week to reach Konoha, but if they moved at the pace that a shinobi could travel, they could reach it in two days. Because of this, they would be leaving in just two days. That left them a week to explore Konoha so that if they ever had to come back they would know where everything was.

In the meantime, they were doing C-Rank missions for some extra spending money after their training each day. Nothing far from the village, but they were still earning good cash and quicker than they usually did. Their most recent mission was to find out what was causing the mountains near the town to visibly shake. Every few hours a different mound of rock shook, One at a time in a line. It was getting closer, and would soon be at Kumogakure.

Their mission was to find the cause and eliminate it. Bee would step in if needed, if the source was truly powerful, such as a rouge tailed beast. The three-tails hadn't been seen for quite some time now. It could have wandered over from Kirigakure to their land. It wasn't likely, but it was still a possibility.

The team gathered together at their usual spot; in the exact middle of the village. It was more commonly known as The Hole, as it was both underground and the lowest point in the village.

The Hole was known by very few people. Directly above was the main square, about fifty feet of solid rock between the two. The Hole was an escape route known only by the Raikage and those he trusted. It was accessible by the Raikage's office and another location in the city that Samui's team did not know. Killer Bee had made his own route to The Hole, that he used often. It was so much easier to get in and out of the village without checking in and out with the guards.

When they all arrived, they took the South exit, coming out to where the next mountain, if the pattern continued, would be. The other mountain had lost a part of its peak a few hours ago, which meant that the cause could be near. They went to the farther mountain first however, to see what had happened.

The land that they had traversed was not a very grass filled place. It was mainly dirt and rocks, which allowed their team to see slight indentations in the ground. They came to a stop, deciding what to do. "Samui! Follow the tracks and come right back! Find anything at all, be it big or small, beat it, crush it, catch it!" She nodded, and turned to follow the tracks. They seemed to be moving in random directions, scurrying all over the place, but eventually went to the peak nearest Kumogakure.

It was then that she stopped, seeing a tunnel to the heart of the mountain. It wasn't very large, but seemed very poorly cut out and highly unstable. Best she wait and see if whatever it was would be coming out any time soon. She looked around and saw near her was a duo of trees. She moved to a spot where she could still watch the tunnel, and began to cut strips of wood out of branches with a kunai.

After gathering a sufficient amount, she began crafting a trap that would contain whatever was making this mess. Not a perfect cage, but enough of a cage for her to subdue or at least injure the target. Setting up tripwires, she went to the undamaged tree and waited.

Eventually, she sighed. It was taking much longer than anticipated; at this rate, she knew her team would come back and get her._ 'They must have been at the mountain with the broken peak by now, and if it was the same as this was it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to examine. That means-'_

The sound of the trap coming together brought her out of her mind, and she made her move. Several kunai were around the target, each narrowly missing. But they were supposed to miss. _'Raiton: Denkai.' _A cage of lightning wrapped the existing cage of wood, making it exponentially more difficult to escape from.

She inspected the man, walking up carefully and holding the final hand seal. No taller than herself, there was a scroll on the back of the target. He was wearing a gray similar to her own, and also something reminiscent of a Kumogakure flak jacket. He had spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Whisker marks were also on his face, and he wore a mischievous grin. He flashed through a few hand seals and roared his head back. "Fūton: Renkūdon!" From his mouth exploded a ball of wind that tore the cage apart. The lightning was also disrupted, giving him a chance to escape the jail.

He ran straight for Samui, displaying speed that rivaled her own. She hurried to get up, as the ball had also knocked her far back, and fell into a ready stance. He did the same, exploding towards her using only his right leg. He feinted a punch and landed with his left leg, bringing his right around in a smashing blow. She was sent up into the air, but he wasn't done yet.

Before she was out of his reach he pushed off the ground once more, getting above her and attempting to smash he back to the ground with both hands. She rotated and grabbed him with his legs, throwing him as far as she could manage.

She landed on the ground, once again in her ready position. This time she took the offensive, confident in her ability to fend him off if she took the initiative. She took the tantō off her back and catiously yet quickly moved towards the boy. Seeing him take a blade off his own back, she frowned internally. It wouldn't be just for show, but the age of the boy showed he could be no older than her. Surely a shinobi not of Kumogakure couldn't best her in a dual.

She pulled her tantō back and slashed at him, but the blonde parried it away easily. He began flicking his wrist around her tantō, and the next thing she knew it was knocked away from her, with his blade at her throat. Their eyes met, and she saw red fading into a vibrant blue. "Who..." She swallowed hard. "Who are you?"

He broke into a grin. "Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

**My favorite two blondes finally meet!**

**Well, I apologize for the semi-short chapter, the shortest one by about one thousand words so far. I thought it was still pretty good though; it was a necessary chapter. A little dull, but necessary. **

**Anyhow, I have a feeling that nobody is going to review, and I am starting to not care, but here's something my friend Naruto6023 posted on his profile that I remembered a few days ago, not that you care. (Everything not in bold)**

And here's something concerning 'REVIEWS', which I copied from 'Heartless demon wolf'-

Writers- all of them, from famous authors to subtle FF writers- ALL depend on the feedback from our readers. Vision Dominican brought up an interesting albeit tragically true idea:

_"Lack of reviews is the greatest killer of fan fic writers out there. We at the institute wish to let the public know of how they can pitch in to save our dying writers._

1) Drop a review every other chapter. It may not seem like much, but reviews are actually what many of us want to see. That, and hits. Hits do make us happy but we don't really know if people like our story or not.

2) Visit our author page. Those kind of hits really make us happy. It's where we showcase our entourage of friends, beta readers, and stories. Some of us even tidy up with set areas for upcoming story ideas and character bios.

3) Send an email. While normally I'd prefer a review, emails are just as good. Really, it warms my heart to communicate with another reader or writer."

What you call being "too lazy to review" is what we call "a flame to the pages" as the writers. That one minute or two that you felt "too lazy" to review is another minute of creeping discouragement that all writers feel as they begin to think...

"Why am I even here…?"

"What's even the point of continuing?"

"My skills must be terrible…no one cares for my story…"

"I'll never be a good writer...I quit."

These are only a few thoughts that go through every writer's head- that go through MY head- when we put out a chapter / story with all our heart and soul within, and we sit there…and sit…and wait…and not a single person says even a word.

If you're not a writer, you have NO IDEA how much that hurts…

If you ARE a writer, then I'm sure you know just how great it feels when someone is kind enough to leave a heartwarming and encouraging review, and you read it, smiling while thinking…_"Wow…fuck...I did it…"_

So, why not give fellow writers the same luxury here?

Too many times I've seen epic and utterly beautiful works of literary art fall to pieces before finally being abandoned due to the terrible discouragement that the lack of reviews can cause.

Sometimes, it is so severe that the very writer himself decides to quit, denying the world his skills of writing that I'm it would have deeply enjoyed.

So…

Just one minute, that's all it takes. Just a few gentle taps of the fingers on your keyboard, a few seconds or so of your time, and your words can SAVE a writer from a dark demise.

**Just something to think about, if you read it. **


	5. Written Exam

She pulled her tantō back and slashed at him, but the blonde parried it away easily. He began flicking his wrist around her tantō, and the next thing she knew it was knocked away from her, with his blade at her throat. Their eyes met, and she saw red fading into a vibrant blue. "Who..." She swallowed hard. "Who are you?"

He broke into a grin. "Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto pulled his Chakra Blade away from her throat, not wanting to cause an international incident. As it was, he had disturbed the environment slightly, burrowing into mountains in search of Kurama's gift. Only a fox would know to look, yet the fox didn't tell him _which_ mountain it was in. Or refused to tell him. Either or.

He looked at her, and his breath caught in his throat. For the first time, he noticed that... she was beyond words. Her perfect skin, silky blonde hair framing her face, and blue eyes that rivaled his own. He noticed that she was beginning to blush, and rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic look on his face. "I didn't mean t-to stare," he stuttered out.

Samui nodded, used to men sending their lustful glances towards her body, but not used to someone unable to look away from what was above her neck. It was a nice change; she had developed earlier than everyone else in her class, and always had boys asking her out, unable to keep their eyes on her face for more than a few seconds. She had turned them all down, wanting someone that didn't just want her for her body. This boy may want the same thing, but his ability to keep his gaze above the neck was baffling and flattering.

So far he was alright in her book, assuming he wasn't a criminal.

"Umm, miss?" She looked up again, meeting the slightly taller boy's confused look with one of her own. "Excuse me, but... I'm at a disadvantage now." This only confused her further. She had nearly forgotten about the battle, but for him to be at a disadvantage was not possible. She was disarmed, his wind canceled her lightning, he was better with- "You know my name, but... I don't know yours." -his blade...

_'Oh.'_ She gave him a shy smile, dazzling him with perfect teeth, and opened her mouth. "My name is Samui Aisu."

He appeared in front of her, bowing. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He held the bow for two seconds, but to Samui it felt like hours. _'I could just knock him out right now and wait for sensei. But he's such a nice... No! Mission first, personal feelings second. That's how it should be.'_ He lifted his head, giving her a nervous smile that showed her his canines were longer than most. _'He's kind of cute though...'_

"I'm afraid I have to go now." He sighed, making a hand seal. "I hope I get to see you again." The next thing she knew, she was surrounded by one hundred blonde boys each running a different direction, careful to keep away from the mountain that Kumogakure resided on. A few of them stopped and looked back, raising their arms in farewell.

Samui began to look for her tantō, and was very surprised at what she saw. There were tracks of the boy everywhere, come to think of it, enough for one hundred of him. Now she would have no idea where he had gone... She smiled._ 'Perhaps it's better this way. Now my business side can't screw his escape up.'_

* * *

_'Dammit Kurama. Are you _sure_ you didn't know which mountain it was in?' _Naruto grumbled.

_'_**_Why would I waste your time?_**_'_

_'Because you and I have a love hate relationship?'_ Naruto heard both Shisui and Kurama laugh.

_'**True. But trust me, the scroll is worth it.**'_

* * *

_After Naruto's Elemental Manipulation Training_

* * *

_Naruto was in his mind, following the familiar path to where Kurama and Shisui were. Sort of familiar. It looked more natural now that he had drained the water, but it was still new to him. He wasn't exactly _used_ to how his mind was before, only knowing that particular setting for a few weeks, but the new look had its perks. One of them was that he could see where he was going better, and another was that the pathway to his teacher was much shorter._

_He was brought out of his musing by the two greeting him. Well, Shisui greeted him. Kurama acknowledged his presence by grunting. Naruto looked quizzically at his sensei, who shook his head, motioning towards the fox. "Well?" Naruto asked. "What is it that you wanted to tell me?"_

_The orange beast opened its eyes, glaring down at him for speaking in such a way to such a powerful entity. "**With that attitude, I'm not going to tell you,**" the beast grumbled. Naruto apologized, and Kurama nodded. "**That's more like it. Now, why I called you in here is... hard to explain. Many years ago, I obtained information about a particular summon. It was told that it was sealed away in a mountain by the Sage of Six Paths himself. Now, while not a very powerful summon, they were very knowledgeable, and it was because of this that the Sage locked the scroll away and out of reach. **_

_**The summon I speak of is that of the Fox. Again, while not any stronger than any other summons, they are highly intelligent. They have learned to manipulate the elements better than any human could ever hope to, and have information about the past that should not have been forgotten. I was surprised when I found this information, but had forgotten about it. The Sage had trusted me to give this information to someone I deemed worthy of it, and now I pass to you this knowledge.**"_

_Naruto sat down, wondering many things, but he had to ask the most important first. "Why?" he asked. "Why are you giving _me_ of all people this info!?"_

_"**Besides the fact that I can't tell anyone else?**" The fox smirked, though it appeared to both Naruto and Shisui that he was baring his fangs. "**I picked you because you will need it. Besides your petty dream, if you do not become stronger I am sure that you will soon die.**"_

_"Way to break it to him gently," Shisui scoffed. He moved to Naruto, and he sat on the ground across him. He placed his hands on his knees, used to the simple posture. "You remember that I said Itachi joined Akatsuki, yes?" He nodded. "It's time you know what Akatsuki is an organization for. You see, Kurama isn't the only tailed beast. There are eight others, each tail representing their amount of chakra. Akatsuki is setting out to collect all nine beasts, for some unknown reason. If Kurama is extracted from you, you will surely die. That means that you cannot allow them to capture you, at all costs. _

_"To do so, as Kurama said, you must become stronger. I have already given you my sharingan, and I will eventually explain the power that it holds, but you will need more than that to fend off Akatsuki. Each member is in a league of their own, and their leader is exceptionally powerful. Immortal, even. If he collects all nine, there is no telling what havoc he will wreak. You must be able to defeat this man, else you will surely die."_

___Naruto sighed, nodding._

* * *

**A/N: Whoops! Forgot to do these!**

**Well, here are the questions for answering.**

**1.) SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan: Why are you complaining about not having many reviews when your story in four chapters has a third of what my main does in thirty?**

**2.) boredrandom: Will Naruto's Mangekyō be Eternal or will he slowly begin to go blind?**

**3.) Infamous13: Why is Naruto in Kumo?**

**4.) Infamous13: Is your Naruto's personality similar to canon or will it be different?**

**5.) FinalGuardian: Is the Kage Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu the same as Itachi's Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu in canon?**

**Now, here are the answers.**

**1.) I'm 'complaining' because I have a goal to accomplish. That goal is to be in the top ten for reviews for Naruto on this site. As of right now, that's about 6,500 reviews. That's exactly fifty-two times the amount I have currently (125). By the time I come close to that, I suspect the number will go up.**

**Now, while some might say that "reviews don't matter" in reality, they do. Using reviews, you can see the most liked stories on this site almost instantly. Team 8 has only twenty-one chapters, yet had 11,772 as of 10:25 A.M. July 14. Sure it was posted seven and a half years ago, but it still got that number of reviews in such a small amount of chapters. Look at the others with the most reviews. See how many chapters it took, and how long? I wanted to get there in a year.**

**2.) Naruto's Mangekyō will not be Eternal. I cannot explain further without spoilers, but no. Sorry I couldn't be as in-depth as the first question.**

**3.) Naruto is in Kumo because he was told to be in Kumo. Remember how he was going to get something from Kurama? You've find out about that already.**

**4.) Naruto's personality as of right now is similar to canon, with an up in arrogance and a down in stupidity. I have yet to truly begun crafting Naruto into what I want him to be, but rest assured, it will be clear what kind of person he is by... Chapter 60, I'm guessing. Somewhere near the end. I really have no idea how long this story will be. At the rate of words so far, I'm going to say that the story will have upwards of 600,000 words, especially because I have yet to get in a groove. When I'm in a groove, I can write tens of thousands effortlessly.**

**5.) Yes and no. Yes in that it is the same technique, but no in the way it is used. Itachi's technique is used strictly as an explosion. Shisui used it to quicken the fight, but he normally wouldn't use such a technique. It's kind of cruel... It's like slapping a dozen explosive tags on a clone without any kind of warning. An instant fireball, capable of leveling trees.**

**Well... That's about it. If you think these questions aren't very relevant, ask your own. If you don't want me to say your name in the shoutout, be sure to tell me that with your question.**

**Oh yeah, I gave Samui a last name. Aisu - it means ice. I think it's appropriate considering her status as an Ice Queen, at least in fanfiction. Given her canon personality, I'd say that it fits fairly well too.**

**Ah, one last thing. I use something that's a bit of a cliché, but it's probably the only one I'll be having in this story. It serves a major purpose in the distant future of the story. That's all I can say for now without spoilers, but bear with me. Well, I suppose it might not be a cliché, but I think it is. You'll see shortly what I'm referring to. If you don't, then I suppose I'm in the clear.**

**One last, last thing. I'm not updating again until I reach 300 or a month goes by, meaning August 19. It will give me time enough to write the next chapter, though seeing that I have nearly 200 favorites, if 80 of you review the chapters, I'll be well past that goal quickly enough. Sorry for the interruption, but since many of you go out of your way to not review... Yeah. Sorry for the disruption. If I can get to 400 by August I'll try my best to update every four days until September. Then I'll try for every Friday. But again, this is just to give me time to write a few chapters and then maybe take a little break. It's not like I won't be updating ever again unless I hit 300. **

***sigh***

**Enough of this depressing matter. **

**EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. READ PARAGRAPH ABOVE.**

* * *

As Naruto neared Konoha, he took his hitai-ate back out of his pouch, and wrapped it where it should be. Safely on his forehead, where it could protect him from... Nothing, really. It was just a prop that identified your village. He knew that a true shinobi would not be able to wear a hitai-ate, but could honestly not see the reasoning behind wearing it sometimes. Had he worn it back in Kumo, it would have sparked something between the two nations that could not be settled easily. It could have been a conflict that could have ended only when his head found its way to a plaque.

He sighed, and did again as Shisui instructed him to get inside the village. When he was about five miles away from the village gates, he strayed from the path, moving to the right. He jumped from the ground to the trees, finding it both faster and easier than running. He had to be more careful, and could not pay as little attention as when running, but he made due. He shifted his mind from the less pressing matters to getting back inside the village without getting spotted, but knew it was going to be a lot harder. He needed to run on the river, using the **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)** and move to a spot far inside Konoha without being seen. That meant he had to stop himself right underneath the bridge his team usually gathered. He sighed again.

When Naruto got to the river he needed, he paused. He had done the Shunshin no Jutsu easily enough to _leave_ Konoha, but using it to get in was another matter. It required a precision that, as of three days ago, he did not have._ 'Just calm down,' _came Shisui's voice. _'I know you can do this. What do you think all that chakra control was for? This is the kind of technique that unless you have a fair level of control, you'll screw up.'_

"Oh, thanks. Like I didn't know that my control is shitty," Naruto grumbled. Shisui was trying his best to help, but saying something like that wasn't very helpful. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't quite know how to do it.

_'Your control is already leaps and bounds better than it was. I'd even go so far as to say it's better than most genin. You'll never be a medic-nin, but you won't kill yourself by putting in too much or too little chakra.'_

Naruto sweat dropped. "Again, that makes me feel _so _much better." He shook his limbs, and performed the necessary hand seals. He took a step forward, and began running. Then he went faster. And then even faster. Eventually, he was moving so fast that he couldn't be seen by the human eye. A sharingan could still see him, but only if the wielder knew where to look and it was fully matured. At the point where he could not be seen, he entered Konoha through the river.

While the water was indeed disturbed, he was putting little enough chakra in to only make it look like the wind was the cause of it. He glanced at the one thing that didn't look like a blur; the Hokage monument. His eyes lingered on the Yondaime, the man that had sealed Kurama in him. He wasn't sure whether to hate the man, or to thank him for giving him so much power. He dragged his eyes away from the mountain, knowing he would have to slow soon. That would be the most tricky part.

Slowing a shunshin was one thing. It usually kicked up some leaves, or sand, or if you wanted to be flashy, lightning, fire or water depending on the chakra type one used. He had even heard of lava and steam, but Shisui could not describe it well. It didn't bother him much, but had left him curious, to say the least.

He had to slowly stop the flow of chakra to his legs, but could not stop the trickle coming from his feet. It was tricky for someone with such a low level of chakra control, but he had done it before. Last time, he had used too much chakra and had pushed his body away from the water. That was a few days ago.

Shunshin no Shisui was feared because of two things. One, was that he could perform the Shunshin no Jutsu without handseals, and two, was that his chakra control was perfect. For a non-medic-nin, that was unheard of. This amount of control allowed him to do most of his jutsu _without _hand seals. One moment he could be spitting fireballs, the next he could be behind you severing your head with a Chakra Blade, if you relied on your eyes. Unfortunately, he had a small amount of chakra. It was what allowed him to perfect his chakra control to such a degree at such a young age.

When Naruto slowed, Shisui instructed him the entire time. His legs burned from going as far as he did, but he couldn't pay much attention to them. He had to stop at the right moment. Exactly in the middle of the bridge. After that he could walk, and head to his apartment. He would need to find a place to store the scroll, though he supposed he could simply give the scroll to a fox to hold. From what Kurama told him about summons, he wasn't going to be letting anyone sign it any time soon.

Shisui's instruction paid off; it was perfect. Naruto had to catch himself on his hands, but it was still the perfect spot. Sweat was dripping off of Naruto; he had succeeded, but it was nerve-racking. Had he not stopped where he did, someone would have seen him. Had someone seen him, questions would be raised. We're questions raised, he would need to explain himself, and his scroll would be found. That would raise more questions, and though he would not get locked up, he certainly would not have access to the scroll for some time.

Naruto allowed himself a sigh. A similar sigh was heard above him, and he tensed. He laughed mentally, remembering he was in the clear now. He stood up, cracking his back from stretching, and walked out from the bridge. Sure enough, there was his clone, waiting for Kakashi and Sakura. He waved to his clone, and it waved back. Sasuke turned, slightly confused, but he smiled when he saw Naruto. Naruto nodded back to him, and the clone dispelled. Naruto groaned, memories of the past three weeks coming back to him.

There was only one memory that truly stood out. Two weeks ago, Kakashi had told Team 7 about the upcoming chunin exams. He had explained to them the dangers, but the team had not cared. They were ecstatic about the chance to move up in rank so quickly, only being genin for a little over two months now. "Chunin exams, huh?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. Naruto hummed, considering the opportunity. "Can you keep quiet about the clone?" Again, his friend nodded. Naruto set down the scroll and created another clone. The clone went back to Sasuke, and Naruto began to walk away with the scroll.

"Where are you going?"

"Training," Naruto called over his shoulder. Sasuke turned to the clone, raising an eyebrow. "Well... I've sort of been on a training schedule."

"So you leave a clone in your place and just train all day?" Naruto nodded. "You have to teach me that jutsu some day."

* * *

The original had fallen asleep several hours ago, but Shisui and Kurama had no need for sleep. They were discussing the same thing they always did when Naruto slept: how to keep him safe. There were some things that were simply off limits, such as Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan. The Uchiha did not think that the blonde was ready for it, and denied him knowledge of it. Kurama thought that it was nonsense, and that he had already shown ample levels of maturity.

"**Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods) **is something that I could only use once a month. I assume for a non-Uchiha, that would be _years_ instead. That's a one shot deal."

"**You forget that he is related to a Senju. That would considerably decrease the time, and the rate of regeneration would decrease it further. It wouldn't be far-fetched for him to be able to use it every few days, or a week at most. Besides, from what I've seen, Kotoamatsukami is not the only jutsu the Mangekyō can use. Or am I wrong?**"

"No, I admit that. What I assume you do not know, is that each Mangekyō is different. That means the jutsu it can use is different. For all I know, Kotoamatsukami is the only jutsu my eyes posess."

"**We will never know if you do not give him access to it.**"

Shisui knew he was right, but could not bring himself to give him the knowledge. A time would come when he would need to know, and at that time he would use it himself. Though he could probably use the genjutsu now, he would not be able to use any other jutsu his eyes may hold until he could remember the pain of losing a loved one.

* * *

After Naruto finally woke up, he did as Kurama told him. After cooking himself breakfast with real ingredients for the first time in weeks, Naruto was crying. Spices made food taste so much better! He needed to carry a scroll filled with them the next time he went on an extended camping trip.

Where he had slept in the Forest of Death was a place he had built from wood with clones the first day. Just fallen branches that he had cut with his Chakra Blades, using about two hundred clones to fashion the wood, with only ten building. He even had made some of the clones working on nails of wood. All in all, he had created a building that blends in with the surrounding area nestled against a tree. It was near water, only a few minutes away, and the tree it was next to was one of the tallest, having a good view of the surrounding area.

That was where he went, and that was where he opened the scroll for the first time. It was blank._ 'No, can't be.' _He unrolled the entire scroll and heaved a sigh of relief. There was a column of writing at the very end of the scroll; a single name, written in blood. He didn't recognize the characters, but Kurama informed him that it was the Sage of Six Paths' signature. He bit his nail, and began to write his own name. When blood touched the paper, There was a single poof, though he did not notice it. He finished his name, and no later was he attacked.

He was thrown away from the scroll, and because he believed he was perfectly safe had slammed into the tree that the building used as its fourth wall. Groaning, he pushed off, and he was unable to see what had attacked him. Cursing, he activated his sharingan and began to look around for an abnormally strong source of chakra, and he saw only one. Something sitting on the scroll, looking at him with its head cocked to the side.

Deactivating his sharingan now that he knew what had attacked him, he studied it in turn. It was exactly what Kurama had said it would be. A fox. It was nearly pure white, its tail just as long as its body, and a curious look in its eyes. There was a streak of golden fur running down both sides, jagged, though the same on both sides. The fox appeared large enough for him to sit down on, and had a tail very similar to Kurama's.

"Uh... Hello?" Naruto said quietly, unsure what to do. Kurama wasn't giving any suggestions, so he went with how he would treat a normal person he was meeting for the first time. The fox nodded.

"Good day."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he said while bowing slightly.

"My name is Rakurai."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rakurai."

The fox seemed to look at him so intensely that he felt naked, like his clothing was doing nothing to cover him. He fought the urge to cover himself, and instead stood a bit taller. Rakurai nodded. "You will do. May I speak with Kurama-san?"

Naruto nodded, and allowed the fox access to his body. His features became more feral, his whisker marks thicker and his hair appeared shaggier. Naruto sighed mentally, disliking being in the backseat of his own body. "**Why do you want to speak with me?**" Naruto's voice was deeper, and more sinister than normal.

"I have one question to ask you before I allow this boy access to the fox. What did he tell you? He gave you something to tell us, and I would like to know that. It was a safety built into the scroll, and I really must ask you comply," Rakurai said with a very reasonable tone of voice.

"**Like a fox, one must be able to deceive. Deceive, but not without wariness. Happy?**" Kurama gave control back to Naruto when Rakurai nodded. He could not have moved the body. All Naruto could give him control over was his voice, and even that was with permission. Naruto shook his head, his features returning back to normal by the time he had finished.

Rakurai walked slowly up to Naruto, and lowered his head. "It is nice to meet you as well, Naruto Uzumaki. I give you permission to summon myself. You must come to our homeland to create a contract with the others. For now, I should be sufficient. When you need me, merely wipe some of your blood on the ground and channel chakra. You'll need to channel a lot of it." Rakurai cocked his head, again looking through him. "Though your reserves are larger than most. Perhaps a twentieth of your chakra will do. Try." With that, he popped out of existence.

Naruto heard Shisui whistle._ 'A personal boss summon. Go figure.'_ Naruto set that aside for later, wondering what he meant by a boss summon, but did as Rakurai had instructed. He put in too little chakra, and felt it recede back into his body. Shisui laughed._ 'I never had a summon. I guess if you can only summon the one, you don't need much control over your chakra. Too little, and nothing will happen. It'll go back to your body. Too much, and I assume the excess will just flow back to your body as well. Go ahead, channel a ton. We have to try it out.'_

Naruto did as instructed. Rakurai appeared in a cloud of white smoke. And he felt most of the chakra he used drain into the technique. The rest of it returned to himself, and Shisui nodded, his theory proven. "Well done. If you have nothing more for me, I'll take my leave."

"As a matter of fact, yes. There was something else." Rakurai cocked his head to the side again when Naruto walked over to the scroll and rolled it up. "I was wondering if you could take this. I think it would be a lot safer in your hands."

Rakurai was still for a long while, before eventually accepting the scroll. "I believe I can keep this safe. Is there anything else then?"

"Other than that, nothing comes to mind," Naruto said. He bowed again. "Good bye, Rakurai."

The fox showed its teeth in what Naruto hoped was a smile. "Good bye, Naruto."

* * *

Twas the night before the exam, and all through the town, not a ninja was stirring, not even a blonde.

Wait, sorry that's a lie.

Twas the night before the exams, and Naruto left to go eat his favorite food in the world, at his favorite shop. He had been craving Ichiraku Ramen since he had gotten back from Nami no Kuni.

"Thank you, come again!" He heard a girl say with a sweet voice. That girl was named Ayame, had brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and wore a small white bandanna. She would be wearing white clothes, and would be smiling. She always had a smile on his face. Naruto sighed, content.

He pushed back the flap, and saw a blonde woman sitting at the counter. She had yet to get her ramen, and was talking to Ayame. The people who had just left were obviously the blonde's friends, as he had seen her hair still moving back into place. She had probably arrived late, and still wanted to get some food. It was late, and understandable that she was eating ramen. It was quick, cheap, and delicious.

"Hey Ayame-chan!"

She turned to see who was being so familiar with her, and smiled when she saw who it was. "Hello Naruto-kun. The usual?" He nodded. "Coming right up," she said cheerfully.

Naruto sat down in his usual spot, the seat next to the other blonde. She seemed to have proportions similar to someone, but couldn't place his finger on it. He didn't look at her, trying to be courteous. She extended the same to him, and they sat in silence until they got their ramen. When he heard her voice, he turned to look at her. She did the same, smiling. "Took you long enough," she said.

Before him was the beauty he had met in Kumogakure. She was smiling, though it was more of a smirk. It made her even prettier, something Naruto thought would be extraordinarily hard to do. "Samui Aisu?" She nodded.

"And you're Naruto Uzumaki." He nodded. "I should take you into custody for disturbing the peace of Kumogakure." He shook his head. "Oh? And why not?"

"You have no proof that I did anything."

She put her hand to her mouth. "I suppose that's true. But how will I repay for what you did?" Samui batted her eyelashes slightly and threw him a look. It had quite the effect on him. He was blushing and opened and closed his mouth several times before he could squeak something out.

"I already received a payment of sorts for my actions. Nothing that concerns you, but I wish it would help me pay for my meal here," he said. She nodded, and they turned back to their ramen. Naruto finished both of his bowls before her single bowl, and narrowed the jumble in his mind to one question. "Why are you here?" He asked the blonde beauty.

"As I'm sure you know, the chunin exams are being held here. I am here to participate." He hummed, and sighed. "Why are you sighing?"

"Oh, just with my luck I'll be fighting you soon enough. I'm also going to be a participant. If you're there, it means that I'll be meeting you near the end of the exam, from what my friend tells me."

"Perhaps," she said. "Only time will tell." Samui paid for her ramen, complimented Ayame's cooking, and left Naruto with an odd feeling in his stomach.

"Time will tell..."

* * *

Once again, Naruto had dispelled his clone. He sorted through the information, and found that the place he needed to go was the academy. Hoping that his teammates still had the common sense to wait for him, he set out from his home.

On his way, as was the norm of his clone, he stopped by Mr. Ikusa's shop and spoke with the man about the more complex uses of his Chakra Blades. It was only a few minutes here and there, but he had an hour before he needed to be anywhere. "So... Where did we leave off," the old man mumbled. "Ah, yes. I believe you were dragged out of here by your friend before I could answer your question. Correct?" Naruto nodded. "Well, you could use anything to channel your chakra into. The blades are just better at doing it, due to the type of metal. Over time, the conductivity of the blade will lessen, especially the way I suspect you use them."

Naruto looked a bit hurt, but didn't say anything. Yasai was perfectly right to say that. He extended the Chakra Blades far past what they normally should go, something that Mr. Ikusa had said was wasteful. The longer the blades of chakra were, the less solid at the end. The chakra was only sharp about two feet, giving him a three foot blade, but that didn't mean he wasn't trying his best to lengthen that. If he could hit something far away without putting himself in danger, he would do so. "Could I channel elemental chakra into the blades?"

Yasai hummed, folding his left arm across his body, using it to support his right that was at his face. "Yes, I suppose you could. It would lessen the conductivity much quicker than it normally would, but the result would be far more useful. I'd say you could extend chakra from the blade for a solid hour before you would need to replace them. But I suppose if you just flared the chakra when needed for a few seconds, it would maximize the length and keep your opponents on their toes. I wouldn't suggest channeling water or earth though. What nature have you?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the way the question was phrased, but replied, "I have two. Wind and Lightning."

Yasai nodded, looking thoughtful. "Those are the best two elements you could possibly have for channeling. If you were to combine them, I'm not sure what you wouldn't be able to cut them. But combining those two types of chakra would be like trying to combine all five. It can't be done."

_'Maybe if you don't know a fox. I'm sure they could do it, from what Kurama says,' _he thought to himself. "Well, thanks Mr. Ikusa."

The old man held out his hand, which only confused Naruto. "Show me your Chakra Blades," he said. Naruto nodded, and complied without question. Outward questions, at least. After inspecting each thoroughly, the man channeled from them. Yasai grimaced. "These are fried. I would say they're giving out only ten percent of what they could." He frowned. "You must have fried them the first week." He set the two on the counter and got him another set from the display case. "I can't allow you to use those in the chunin exams, they'll get you killed. They could fail at any time..."

"Thank you for telling me. I didn't notice that they were as bad as you said." Naruto got out his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

The man shook his head. "You can repay me with a different method. I believe you were quite the prankster when you were younger, or does my memory betray me?"

"Nope. Guilty as charged. What did you have in mind?"

The man smiled. "Just something for a bit of business. Not as many people stray from the standard kunai and shuriken as they should. You did, and look how well those Konoha Chakra Blades worked for you. Or am I wrong?" Again, Naruto confirmed he was right. "What I want you to do is find some way to use the chunin exams to increase the flow of people that my store receives. Think you could manage that?" Naruto grinned and nodded. "Ah, don't make it too much like your younger self would. Make it classy." The fire that was burning in Naruto's eyes lessened, but he still nodded.

"I can do that, Mr. Ikusa. Thanks again for the Chakra Blades," he said cheerfully, moving to the door. He saw Yasai wave, and make his way to the other side of the counter, where he picked up his Chakra Blades and his hand began glowing with chakra. Naruto was out the door before he could question the man, but figured it best to be where he needed.

After another leisurely stroll down the street, he found himself staring at the tall compound that he knew to be the Academy. He sat down on the lone swing, where he and Sasuke had usually met at lunch time after the first few months of the Academy. He figured it was the safest place to think Sasuke would meet him, and Sakura would be able to smell Sasuke out wherever he went. When the two arrived, he leapt off the swing and led the way.

As it turned out, there was a section of the adacemy that they had never been allowed in before, though as kids they dismissed it. Shisui explained that they needed to go in the back entrance to get to the place they needed, and Naruto was happy to lead them there. The first thing they stumbled upon was an extremely large room that had three levels. At the second of the levels, was Gai's team. Had he looked directly at the third level, he would have seen something slightly distorted, a genjutsu that hid Samui's team. The trio below them was waiting for something, and they wanted to know what.

They winced when the black-haired boy began speaking. "Yosh! Naruto-kun! I challenge you to a fight!" Samui's team wasn't the only one to wince.

Naruto appeared behind Sasuke, and said, "How about you give this guy here a chance? He's _much_ stronger than me." He was trying to keep his voice steady and face straight, but couldn't keep from smiling. "How about it, Sasuke? You could use a bit of a warm-up."

"Yosh! I will fight you, Sasuke-kun!"

The Uchiha looked back and Naruto who gave him a thumbs up, then at Lee, who gave him a thumbs up. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice."

Lee jumped down, and a thud could be heard, were you looking for it, when his leg touched the ground. He had landed kneeling, and had moved so quickly Sasuke had instinctively turned his sharingan on. When Lee made no move, he charged. The moment he did, Lee came at him. He swept one leg high, and while Sasuke was preoccupied with that leg, went airborn and slammed him in the gut with his lower leg. Sasuke had raised his arm up to block the second kick, but Lee had simply moved it an instant before contact.

Naruto heard Sasuke get the wind knocked out of him, but the real thing that surprised him was that he was sent forty feet in the air. He was almost at the ceiling, when Lee appeared behind him. "The mighty sharingan is useless in defeating taijutsu if you cannot react to what you see!" Naruto watched Lee land Sasuke, keeping his head an inch from the ground.

He flipped Sasuke back over, and set him down before he had to jumped out of the way of Naruto's drop kick, which Sasuke felt the air of. "Come on, Lee. You and me, right here right now."

Lee raised one of his bushy eyebrows. "I thought you wanted me to fight Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto chuckled. "I just wanted him to get the same inspiration to train harder that I did." He grinned, and settled into a stance. "I've learned a few more things since last time. A real version of taijutsu, for one. Enough of that." He made a motion with his left hand, and Lee did exactly as he requested.

When Lee ran at him, Naruto could see him this time. Last time he had just been a blur, but this time he was an actual person. A person with an ugly bowl-cut, but a person nonetheless. When Lee got within four yards of him, Naruto made his own move. His sharingan active, no personal restraints were on him. He was going one hundred percent, attempting to keep it strictly taijutsu. As always, he began with pushing off one leg, and bringing his arm around. When Lee halted and moved to block it, Naruto switched his tactics. Instead of aiming at Lee, Naruto used the force that was behind the punch to bring himself to the ground, hands first. He did a handstand for a millisecond, and spun in circles, preparing to kick out at Lee several times. The first kick landed, as it caught him unawares, but Naruto didn't have time to whoop at his success. Lee had already landed, and had also changed up his tactics.

Now, instead of the straight forward approach, Lee was running circles around him. Literally. The black-haired shinobi was trying to use his speed to get Naruto to do something stupid and pounce on it when he did. Naruto chose to push off the ground and flip himself back on his feet, deciding how to deal with such a battle plan. He waited. Someone like Lee would not be able to patiently wait longer than himself, and chose to not make the first move. Initiating wasn't always a good thing. Sometimes, it was the worst thing you could possibly do, and in this situation, that was certainly true. If Naruto strayed from his position, Lee would have the advantage. If Lee strayed from his own circle, Naruto would.

Lee's speed was superior to Naruto's. They both knew that, and god knows if Lee took off his weights. However, Naruto was pretty sure he was just as strong as Lee. Lee might have more speed behind his blows, which allowed him to hit much harder than he normally would, but if it was just two people standing still, Naruto was fairly certain he would beat him. They weren't standing still, but the distance between the two was minuscule. Neither would have the edge at such close quarters when it can to power.

Hopefully.

Lee shouted something about youth, and changed course to go directly to Naruto. He was charging his back, but Naruto turned quick enough to catch his fist, just as Lee caught his own. Naruto smiled, happy about being able to get Lee into a grapple. Now he would be able to test his theory. Lee jumped backwards, but Naruto followed him easily, moving forward rather than the backward motion Lee forced into. He couldn't turn around either, as Naruto was a flurry of movement. If Lee turned around, he would take significant damage.

The female members of both teams were shocked. Tenten couldn't believe Naruto was keeping up with Lee just as much as Sakura. Lee had just defeated Sasuke._ 'Surely Sasuke-kun is stronger than Naruto,'_ Sakura though._ 'Right?'_ She looked on at the battle, unable to tell who was winning, or what they were doing at all. Her eyes were still too poorly trained to see chunin level speed. The two slowed, and for a moment she saw Naruto had Lee up against a wall. _'No... that's not possible. Sasuke-kun is stronger than Naruto-baka.'_

The third team in the area was marveling at the speed these genin possessed. It matched their own, and that was an accomplishment. They were taught to understand their need for three things: smarts, strength, and speed. Being intelligent wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but they each had at least two of the three at chunin level. Karui possessed strength and speed, Omoi possessed intelligence and speed, but Samui had all three. She wasn't stronger than Karui, but the way she went about using her strength made her own superior. She had graduated the top of their class, and always seemed one level better at everything. No matter how hard they tried to specialize, Samui learned to combine all three of the essential skills into one training regimen that she guarded fairly secretly.

As Samui watched Naruto, she thought of ways that she could defeat him. His taijutsu style was not basic, but it still appeared easily countered. She was breaking it down for the next time they met. She would challenge him to a spar, and if he accepted she would defeat him. Were it strictly taijutsu that was. When ninjutsu was thrown into the mix, she wasn't sure how she would fare against multiple. The last time, she was caught by surprise. She was confident in her ability with her tantō, though he was skilled with his own blade. His wind, she could work around. Just because it was the counter to her own element, doesn't mean that she couldn't overpower it._ 'He's very skilled. I cannot underestimate him again, else I may not finish this exam on the top.'_

Naruto pushed Lee away, who had started to go on the offensive rather than defense. This had put Naruto at a bit of a disadvantage, but only briefly. He had taken a few blows to the ribs that still pained him, but Kurama would take care of that with his chakra. If not fully heal him, numb the pain so it didn't impair him. He looked at the clock, and sighed while raising his hands. Lee's attack stopped an inch before it struck him, and Lee looked at Naruto with his eyes burning with a question. "I don't concede, but we have to go get checked in. The exam is starting in ten minutes."

Lee nodded happily. "Yosh! We will continue this spar another time Naruto-kun! I look forward to competing against you in this examination!"

Naruto smiled. "You bet." He turned his sharingan off and looked back at Sasuke and Sakura. "You two go on ahead for a second, I have to check something," Naruto said while getting out the paper Kakashi had given him. The duo nodded, and five genin left the room. Naruto smirked. "Enjoy the show?" he called while looking at where Team Samui was hiding.

Each of them flinched, unaware that the boy had seen through their genjutsu, even if it was such a simple one. Surely the Uchiha, from what they heard about that clan, could have seen their genjutsu with his blood line. They saw Naruto jump up to meet them, and the moment he moved close enough the genjutsu failed. He held out his hand to each of them, introducing himself and committing their names to heart. He would need them later, as he wasn't going to let a catch like Samui leave his mind any time soon.

"So," Naruto said, "why were you hiding up here?"

He asked the question to no person in particular, yet Samui chose to answer. She was in front of the other two, which made him believe she was the unofficial leader of the trio. "Simply wondering what the team below us was waiting for. You put on quite the show, Naruto-san. You should not have showcased your skills, had you known we were watching. That was very foolish of you."

Naruto grinned. "I always like to put on a show, especially for people that don't know me very well."

After a few moments, Omoi broke the silence. "How did you see through the genjutsu?"

His grin stayed right where it was. "I was the only one that decided to look around. The others assumed nobody was nearby, and that everyone else was already at the exam. Speaking of the exam, I'll be cutting it close to registering, as will you. There's only a few minutes left." The Kumogakure ninja nodded, and with him made their way towards the exam room.

They made it in the room with three minutes to spare, and Naruto excused himself from the group, seeking his team. He found them in the middle of a scene, and sighed. It was something he was getting a bit _too_ familiar with. A tad earlier than they should have, the proctors for the exam arrived in a cloud of white smoke. He looked at the clock, and saw it was only half a minute ago that he had arrived.

"Thank you for waiting," the man in the middle of the group said. "I am Ibiki Morino, and I will be the proctor for the first part of this examination." He pointed to where his team was, and Naruto go nervous. "You, hidden sound guys. Stop doing as you please or I'll kick you out before the exam even begins." The hidden sound guys were gruesome, their leader looked the worst of them all. The two without masks on were smiling like lunatics, their brows drawn down in disappointment. The masked boy apologized, and Ibiki continued. "There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Killing your opponent will not be tolerated if permission is given. Understood?" Everyone in the room nodded, and Ibiki in turn nodded. "Now, everyone come up here and pick a number. That is where you will sit."

Naruto's team was thoroughly separated, Naruto being the furthest possible from Sakura with each of them at a corner, and Sasuke in between them. "That's much better, isn't it?" It was rhetorical, but he still looked around for a moment to see if anyone was stupid enough to answer. "There are three rules for this part of the test. The first, is that each question wrong is a point off. You start with ten points. When you have no more points, your team fails. The second part is that this is a team test. Your scores will combine to make your team score. Third, each time you are caught cheating, two points are deducted. If one person on the team fails, so do the rest. They will be watching you." At this point, he motioned to the other twenty people. "You may begin. Turn over your papers."

Naruto looked at the questions, and blanched. All of the questions were incredibly hard!

Naruto looked through the questions again, and found that his initial glance was correct. They were all of the same difficulty. Only someone with Sakura's book smarts would be able to answer them. That meant he had to cheat. He never moved his head from the position it was in, but was still able to see a bit. A person a few seats to the right of him was furiously scribbling in answers, and he decided to use his cheatergan and copy them. He got eight of the nine, but had missed the first question._ 'Wait a second, eight of nine?'_ He looked several times, but there was no tenth question. He raised an eyebrow, but Shisui explained to him that the tenth question was one that the examiner had to give verbally. _'Well, better look at the first one.'_

_1.) Tobi is in a battle, and is sick of trying, and begins to fire off ninjutsu at random. Given his skills, he can defeat five out of seven of the ninja he is in the battle with by doing this. What is the probability he can defeat twelve ninja without dying when he uses his ninjutsu randomly?_

_'Are you serious...?' Naruto thought. 'Shisui, how do you calculate probability?'_

_'I have no idea. I think it has something to do with a triangle though.'_

_'A triangle. Really.'_

_'Yes. It's very stupid. I can't remember the last time I used it in a fight.'_

_'When did you use a _triangle_ in a fight!?'_

_'I can't remember. I'm sure I did though. It was a desperate situation... Oh! I had to out-math an enemy ninja to get away so I could recover. He was boasting about his brain power, and I challenged him. Long story short, it gave me the opportunity that I needed.'_

_'Great. Might as well wait for the tenth question, then. Unless you can remember how to do this problem.'_

_'I've got nothing.'_

_'Kurama?'_

**_'I'm an immortal beast of raw power. Why would I possibly ever need _math_?'_**

_'You could have just said no.'_

Naruto resigned himself to wait, and when the tenth question came along, he was ready to take it. "Okay. Time for question number ten. There are added rules to it. You must choose whether or not to take it. If you fail this question, you will never again be able to take this exam. However, if you do not accept the final question, you will immediately fail. Now... those that do not wish to take the question, raise your hand."

He heard a fair amount of the room raised their hands, but from where Naruto was he couldn't tell if his team was among those people or not. He motioned to his assistants, and they escorted those teams out. He was relieved when nobody came to get him. "Those of you that remain in this room... congratulations. You pass." Naruto looked around, and saw that... fifty-one people were left, including himself. Seventeen teams. He was happy to see Samui had remained, but at the same time dreaded the confrontation that would eventually come. Sure he could probably win one on one, but if the two teams battled, Samui's would win. He could carry his team in most other circumstances, but going by Samui's skill level, her team couldn't be far behind, if at all. For all he knew they were stronger than her.

The window broke in the middle of Ibiki's speech, and a banner was hung by four kunai. A woman was in the middle of the banner, and she was wearing a skirt that covered her ass, and a jacket. She wore a mesh shirt for a top, that did nothing to hide her. "Anko Mitarashi here! I'm the examiner for the second test. Follow me!" She shouted excitedly.

Ibiki poked his head out from behind the banner. "Bad timing," the man said. "I wasn't quite done explaining to them."

Anko blushed, but quickly recovered. "Well, I'm on a tight schedule. Sorry about that. Alright brats! Follow me!" She dove out the window she had broken to get in, and one by one the genin got back into their teams and followed her out the window.

* * *

"_This_ is where the second part will be held?" Naruto scoffed. As soon as he finished, he saw a kunai coming right towards his face. Were he to stand still it would graze his cheek. He wasn't sure whether to catch it or to leave it be, because doing either would make his team a target. He decided the former. His eyes flashed for no more than a millisecond and he reached out to grab the kunai. He missed the handle, but was able to swing his finger back to the loop and throw it back to where it came from, with little power behind it.

He saw the proctor Anko catch the kunai and throw it back at far greater speeds than the first throw. Having more time, he again channeled his sharingan for a split second to catch it. This time he held onto it, not wanting it thrown again, hoping his sharingan had so far remained hidden. Things might get complicated if it was revealed at an inopportune time. This time Naruto walked up to Anko and handed it back to her.

"Your kunai, Mitarashi-san." He tried to sound as polite as he could, as he didn't want it thrown back at him pointblank. That would hurt a great deal.

"Why thank you kind sir," she said back with a wicked grin. "Now I can do this much easier." Anko slashed him across the cheek, and licked the blood. "Ah, innocent. This forest isn't as nice as it looks, little brat. There are tons of dangerous creatures in there that could kill you. That reminds me." She held up a pile of papers, and put on a happy-go-lucky face. "I need you all to sign these wavers. If you don't sign them you're automatically booted from the exam. Oh, and everyone head to that building in a single file line. One team at a time," she said with a smile before returning to Naruto. "I bet a punk like you wouldn't last a day without your team."

Naruto grinned, dropping his voice so that only she could hear him. "I bet a punk like me has already lived and trained in this forest for the better part of the past month." She raised her eyebrows at this, but he wasn't done yet. "How often do you go in this forest?"

"Fairly often. It's like a second home to me."

"Have you noticed the shelter that I built next to the tallest tree, a few minutes from the river?" She shook her head. "I didn't think so. I'm not a brat. I know how to survive. I might wear clothes that are a bit flashy in the light, but I like these in the dark. Very warm, very comfortable, very dark. I've killed the snakes. I've fought the spiders. Everything else stayed away from me, and I stayed away from them. If I can kill the hundred foot long snakes, shouldn't I be fine?"

She frowned, but nodded._ 'He built a shelter and I didn't even notice it when I was checking the forest last week? Must be getting rusty.' _She grinned, a crazy gleam in her eyes. "Everyone sign the waver and head to that shack to get a scroll?" Nobody said no, so she took that as a sign they were done. "Good! Automatic pass to the team that can beat this little punk when you get in there! Oh, and you're all competing to get two scrolls. One Earth, and one Heaven. Don't open them until told, or else you're disqualified. When you have both scrolls, go to the tower in the middle of the forest. Everyone head to a gate!"

After Naruto got scolded by Sasuke, they found their way to one of the gates she had spoken of. "A word of advice! Don't die!" She sat down and made a shooing motion. "Go away."

* * *

**New Jutsu List (Both Mentioned and Used)**

**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) Supplementary. D-Rank (Ninjutsu) All Ranges. - The ****Body Flicker Technique** is a high-speed movement technique, allowing the user to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To a non-shinobi, they move at such speed that it appears as if they have teleported, while in reality the user has simply used chakra to vitalize their limbs to move at much faster speeds than normal. It causes strain on the muscles enhanced if used for longer than a few seconds. The strain will not level off, it will only build to unbearable levels or until the user runs out of chakra. 

**Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods) S-Rank (Genjutsu) All Ranges. - The user, upon making eye contact of the target, can enter the mind of the target and give them false experiences. This makes the target feel as if they are making choices of their own free will, yet was being forced to do so. It is a genjutsu of the highest class, due to it being completely unable to be detected by the target. The only possible user of this technique is Shisui Uchiha or Naruto Uzumaki, as Shisui has no spare.**

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**Well, there's another chapter of my story. Again, I'm going to be taking awhile on the next chapter. It's either I get to 300, or I wait a month before I begin updating. **

**As always, ask questions and I will answer them, unless the answer contains spoilers. Spoilers will not be tolerated.**

**Ah, was the fox contract cliché?**

**That's about all I have to say. I hope I don't have to wait too long to update. **


	6. I Accept Flames

**Ah, yet again I screw over the readers, but for a different reason. **

**Instead of scraping the story, I'm scraping my career as an 'author' altogether. I have found a new dream, both more and less realistic than publishing novels. I thought that if I could just keep going, it would be okay. I was wrong. **

**If you don't care why, just skip to the bottom paragraph. sayings elling you that right now, before you read something 'boring'. **

**I am barely sixteen years old. I turned that age in June. I was thirteen I believe when I started thinking that I could be an author. It was for only one reason at that time, and that was because the English language just came so naturally to me, where others found it difficult. The use of comma and other punctuation baffled others to the point where I wondered if they were just completely stupid, or I was a genius. Turns out it was a little of both, more so the latter of the two. But that doesn't matter, so I digress. **

**I thought that all you needed to be an author was to be able to write with perfect grammar, and to be able to spell and understand complex words, two things that I had. How ignorant I was back then...**

**It takes a lot of things to be an author. I have most of the qualities that I've been able to list, in fact all but one. Like I previously thought, it's useful for grammar to be pretty good. Spelling doesn't mean a damn thing anymore though, with all the different auto-correcting programs in this day and age. A third thing I found was that an author needed to be able to come up with good ideas. I've heard of many authors that pay others for ideas, but the very thought sickened me. Even this quality I possessed. In fact, it's my specialty. I've already invented an entire world governed by laws and full of creatures, a world where death has two parts. Ah, this isn't necessary now is it? I suppose I should explain a bit further though. In the world I created, when you die you have the choice to come back to life. If you do, unless you are strong enough to beat it down, you will become a demon, a slightly deformed version of whatever died. About one in every one-hundred thousand succeed in this process. Again, I digress. **

**I'm sure I could bore you all with a dozen more qualities an author needs, but I'm sure you have neither the time nor the damn to give. What I lack is inspiration. I lack the drive to push through whatever comes my way. In writing, at the very least. I've developed this particular trait through strength training already, allowing me to give more effort during physical exertion than most others. But you don't care, do you?**

**I can create an entire world, but I can't force myself to write the 200,000 words to show it to you, let alone do it multiple times. I applaud people like Kenchi618 and Naruto6023. They have what it takes. **

**I do not. **

**So, I'm putting this story up for adoption. If nobody wants the story within a month, I will post a seventh chapter that will include the entire story, in a shortened form of course. Perhaps around 5,000 words. If you want the story, PM me. I'll decide whether or not you're capable of finishing what I started. That means if you aren't better than me screw off. Well... I suppose that's it. I will accept even flames. I deserve them. If I post another thing after next month, it will be in several years. Once again, I apologize. In eight years, if I accomplish what I hope to, I will tell you all my real name. By then nobody will care though. Haha, I commend those of you that might keep me on their minds for that long. Just know that if you hear from me again, it'll be after I've created a wonderful thing. **


End file.
